Steph McGovern

And then, you know, you mentioned the cost of borrowing.

That will often go up for the government.

The pound might fall against the other currency.

So then, you know, whether it's right or not, it instantly has an impact and becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way.

Yeah, just on that as well, because I've talked before in this podcast about how I'm quite optimistic about fiscal devolution in a way that I haven't been before.

You know, and obviously everything around Andy Burnham's rhetoric is, look what I've done in Manchester and this devolution can happen on a much larger scale.

And this will be great for the inequality we've seen in the regions, the North-South divide and everything else.

But you're also cautious about it happening too quickly, aren't you?

You don't think that we should just, you know, give out this money and let them run things themselves too quickly.

Why is that?

Why are you cautious about it, Paul?

So on that point, Paul, what's the worst thing that can happen if they do get this money too quickly?

Because as you've rightly pointed out, now there isn't much room for politicians before voters push back, before markets push back on things.

And yes, you're right.

Long-term strategy is the key here.

But for me, it feels like if people don't start to feel better off soon, or at least that there's some type of momentum in terms of that, and that this...

that they're going to lose people even more.

And a part of this whole problem we have, I think, in the country, this division is just about people feeling like their lives haven't got any better at all.

And they just want to feel like someone's going to do that for them.

So isn't it better to take that risk and give people that power quickly and then let them do something rather than worry about a lack of infrastructure?