There are a few other cities that have done and are continuing to do well such as Manchester, but the North East continues to decline, Liverpool is betting that being a Freeport (again) will save it (it won't), Birmingham is just a bit rubbish, Wales is independent enough from Westminster to be ignored and not independent enough to change its own destiny, and Scotland (or the SNP) desperately wants to leave the UK, rejoin the EU, keep the oil, become a wind, wave, tech and finance powerhouse and also have a rainbow sparkle unicorn pony. It's not a great picture.