10 june 2012, manchester as europe

Judging the veracity, or otherwise, of this little fantasy, is limited to those that know well the geographies of both the european union and greater manchester. See both as a collection of sovereigns, bound together in a broader union that the evidence suggests drives economic growth, but of which they remain suspicious, because pooling sovereignty, to a degree, is losing it. For germany, largest member state and economic powerhouse, read (the city of) manchester. For the other, albeit smaller, half of the essential partnership, read salford: germany and france are the eu's irreplaceable motor. The third leg, italy, always destined to be a leadership also-ran, is a nation barely a century old yet was in at the eu's creation: with a little squinting, we might see tameside. The powerful outsider, uncomfortable with its strange political bedfellows, that reluctantly joins, because it has nowhere else to go: is for europe, the uk; and for gm, trafford. Stockport, like the benelux, will never call the shots, but has much to gain and little to lose. Wigan, bolton, bury, rochdale and oldham, like poland, hungary and other new member states that joined in 2004, have profoundly different economies: poorer, lower-skilled, with less connection to the higher end of the value chain. They have potential for innovative niches, and seem to need more than they are needed, but bring labour supply, a bigger market and more weighty influence. Interesting that while the eu has complex and varied systems of representation that reflect differing weights, gm has just one person, one vote. Maybe though that's the difference between being 1 year old and 55.