Because it is. Something I heard on BBC Radio 4 recently is that everywhere in Britain that's outside of London is now poorer than any given state in the US.

Partly this is because of the myopic policies of the coalition and then conservative governments, which didn't invest in growth and what seems like a blindingly obvious consequence of this is that there was then no growth.

> Britain’s houses are cramped, ancient and in the wrong places

Ain't that the truth. And actually you're better off getting the ancient ones because they're less cramped.

I think I agree quite a lot with this article, as someone now watching from overseas - something needs to be done as the state just seems to soak up ever more money for ever less benefit to the average person. Things are getting worse and more expensive over there. Time to change tack and at least have them get better if it's going to cost more!

> everywhere in Britain that's outside of London is now poorer than any given state in the US.

This is true of Europe in general vs the US because economic growth in Europe has been low compared to the US since at least the financial crisis. At the time GDP of the Eurozone was comparable to the US' now the US is almost twice as big. As a consequence every European country ranks low compared to US states on GDP per capita:

"Italy is just ahead of Mississippi, the poorest of the 50 states, while France is between Idaho and Arkansas, respectively 48th and 49th. Germany doesn't save face: It lies between Oklahoma and Maine (38th and 39th)." (2023) [1]

[1] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2023/09/04/the-gdp...

> And actually you're better off getting the ancient ones because they're less cramped.

Yup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Morris_Committee

Have you actually been to the poor states in the USA? And where do you think those very poor people are getting health care and other benefits from?