A journey without maps: The regional policies of the 1964-70 British Labour Government

O'Hara G. (2005) A journey without maps: the regional policies of the 1964-70 British Labour Government, Regional Studies 39 , 1183-1195. This paper examines four influences on British regional policy in the late 1960s: party politics in the context of the economic environment; the structure of government; the influence of the 'new regional economics'; and the impact of new knowledge and statistics. Much of the confusion of British regional policies in the 1960s is found to have been due to political and administrative divisions allowed by the fact that new theoretical approaches and data were so novel and uncertain. Policies are therefore advocated that are based on established research, clearly and simply defined, and determined democratically within regions themselves.