Stuck in a rut? Here's how to help the Brits who feel left behind

Our fortune in the west may be indisputable, but is often little comfort to the many Brits who – by western European standards – are stuck in an economic rut. Stark figures were published this week from the Centre for European Reform. London and the south east are the only UK regions with a higher-than-average GDP per capita, compared to 15 major EU countries. All other parts of the UK (accounting for three quarters of the population) have GDP-per-head below 90 per cent of the EU-15 average.