Concentration of power in London is 'UK disease', says Bristol mayor

Marvin Rees, the outgoing mayor of Bristol, has called for more power to be put in the hands of city leaders to help tackle issues such as decaying infrastructure and the climate emergency.

- Steven Morris

Rees, who is nearing the end of an eight-year stint, argued that the concentration of power in London was a "UK disease" that was curbing progress across the country.

He also said he believed the decision by the people of Bristol to scrap the post of elected mayor was a mistake, and he reflected, with a degree of scepticism, on one of the most high-profile events of his time in power: the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

Rees, who became the first black mayor of a European city, spoke as tenants evacuated from Bristol's oldest tower block amid safety fears prepared for Christmas and the new year living in a hotel or with friends and relatives.

He said Barton House told a broader story. "It talks to us about the challenge facing places like Bristol. A lot of our physical infrastructure is towards end of life. We face some really big decisions about how we're going to keep the city together physically. We need to fundamentally rethink the way cities are put together."

The mayor said there was too much control in London. "If I was a minister and wanted something to happen in the country, I wouldn't go into a room in Westminster and ask some Oxbridge graduates and a couple of thinktankers. I'd convene the leaders of the biggest cities in the UK.