If 2020 wasn’t enough, here comes 2021: with the ongoing burden of the pandemic further complicated by Brexit agreements. In the week that CPP launches new analysis on the productivity potential of places across the UK, this event explores the role of London and the regions in making Britain fit for Brexit.This past year has placed our cities and regions under enormous pressure as central and local leaders sought to manage the fallout from the pandemic. In 2021 the UK's places will continue to be shaped by the ongoing impact of Covid-19 as well as by the future trade relationships with our European neighbours and the rest of the world. 

With the risk of unemployment in the country coming close to the 1980s levels after furlough ends and threatening to derail the government’s levelling up project, the pressure on cities and regions as engines of our economy is higher than ever before if they are to ‘build back better’ in a globalised world. With London potentially at risk of 'levelling down' due to its labour market being hit hardest the capital is also at a crucial crossroads.  We will be looking at what this new conjuncture means for global Britain and its places in a post-Brexit and post-pandemic world. Key questions include: What impact will Brexit have in the UK’s levelling up agenda? What is London’s new role in relation to the rest of the UK and as a major player in the global economy? What is the role of the regions and how can they best be empowered to boost Britain’s global agenda?

Join the debate with

• Stefanie Bolzen, UK and Ireland Correspondent, Die Welt
• Richard Brown, Deputy Director, Centre for London
• Professor Richard Jones, Chair in Materials Physics and Innovation Policy & Associate Vice-President for Innovation and Regional Economic Development at University of Manchester
• Ben Franklin, Head of Research, Centre for Progressive Policy

Chair

Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics at Oxford University and Adjunct Professor of Economics, London Business School

Join the debate on twitter by using #CPPLevelup