What's not mentioned in this article is that capital investment in the UK is governed mostly by an 'equation' that calculates where the largest return on invest

What's not mentioned in this article is that capital investment in the UK is governed mostly by an 'equation' that calculates where the largest return on investment is, followed by political lobbying to get investment in places where that ROI is low. I read somewhere (can't find the link, sorry) that ROI on every £1 invested, is about £5-7 in the South East (Elizabeth Line, tube extensions, DLR extensions, roads etc.), versus slightly more than parity for other regions i.e. £1 -> £1-2. Blaming the current Government for doing nothing (arguably in power for 13 years including a coalition, a 'European event' and COVID), versus not blaming the previous Government (also in power for 13 years, Gulf War, and the Olympics) largely voted for by the very regions that are complaining about not being levelled up seems, a bit disingenuous. I really don't know why journalism (and popular opinion) is so simplistic that it expects "results now!". Tories approved the Jubilee Line extension, completed under Labour, Labour approved the Elizabeth Line, completed under the Tories, etc. etc. A major part of the problem, if not the problem, in this country is the adversarial politics we now have. No matter who is in charge, and what they propose, the default position of the opposition (no matter who it is), is either "no!", or "you're not doing that!". So we have the absurd situation that, for example, the HS2 rail project was supposed to have a North East spur. "Too much!" "Ok we'll cancel it!" "Not enough!" "Where's our spur gone!". Rinse repeat. "Levelling up" involves getting physical goods and services quickly from point A to point B. If we don't improve transport infrastructure at the national level, and local level, in all regions, there's never going to be any improvement. Next up for London in the next decade will be (in progress, and proposed): the new Blackwall Tunnel, a new Thames Crossing in Kent/Essex, Crossrail 2, a DLR extension, a Bakerloo line extension, and finally a bridge or tunnel across the Thames (possibly for the DLR) around the Dagenham area. Rest of the country? A new Mersey tunnel? Nope. A new Tyne tunnel nope?