With their towering columns and gilded clock-faces, the Victorian town halls of England's northern cities look like the seats of empires. And so they once were. Bradfordian woolmen and Mancunian cot-tonspinners led Britain's Industrial Revolution, bringing their cities national clout and global fame. But a century-long suction of power to the capital has turned Britain into an extraordinarily centralised country. Ninety-five per cent of taxes are raised in London, leaving the grand council chambers of the regions to hear debates on parking fines and dog fouling.
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