Brexit just the start of Boris’s problems

Boris Johnson can now move ahead with Brexit, but that’s just one of many issues facing Great Britain which will need solutions, writes UK correspondent Stephen Drill.

There’s nothing like the price of a cup of coffee to tell you about the cost of living.

During my trips around the UK in the past few weeks talking to people about Brexit and the general election, I’ve had a few.

But this week in Portsmouth I was stunned when I paid £1.80 for a coffee at a cafe next to an Asda supermarket.

In London, that same cup of coffee can cost £3.50 and that’s not even at the tourist traps.

Doing the maths, that’s $A6.68 for a cup of coffee in London to $A3.50 in Portsmouth, a Navy and university town about an hour’s drive south of the capital.

And it’s the simplest example of the problems in the UK.

All the cash is locked up in a small part of the country around the City of London – a square mile where most of the world’s major business deals get done.

The London economy counts for about a fifth of the UK economy, while it has only 13 per cent of the population.

Its taxes prop up the rest of the country but it also draws in the investment away from other areas.

The economy falls off a cliff outside London, with wages only a fraction of what can be found in the capital.

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But while wages are higher than in the rest of the country, remember that cup of coffee costs twice as much and the same goes for housing.

Readers in Sydney will also have similar concerns about the high cost of living there and something needs to be done in both cities.

Go past the postcard views of Portsmouth and you see signs of widespread economic malaise, writes Stephen Drill.

Walking around Portsmouth it’s clear to see that there are not enough good quality, high paying jobs to kickstart the economy.

There is also a lack of aspiration here. It feels like no one wants to get on and they are stuck with their lot.

I’m blaming that on the inheritance tax, which stops people passing on the full value of their home when they die.

Some grieving children get stuck with a bill just to keep their family home and it just sucks the life out of the housing market, which is grossly understocked.

There’s no incentive to be house proud, and perhaps even buy an investment property to rent out to someone who needs somewhere to live.

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I spoke with the head of the Portsmouth council Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who said he was proud of being able to build 400 homes in a year.

Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson. After Breixt, the problems his country faces are enormous. Picture: AP//Kirsty Wigglesworth

Coming from Australia where that could be built in one suburb in three months, it’s hard to see how the regions will ever be able to kickstart their economies to tip the balance a little more away from London.

Boris Johnson cast doubt on the high speed rail project between London and Leeds in the north via Birmingham because its cost could blow out to 100 billion pounds ($A190 billion).

And while that’s a lot of money, something drastic needs to be done to improve the regions.

China is spending $8 trillion on building its Silk Road through 64 countries to make it cheaper to move its exports.

The UK, just like Australia, better start thinking fast or both countries will be left behind.

Stephen Drill is News Corp’s UK correspondent.

@steveheraldsun

Originally published as Brexit just the start of Boris’s problems