A facade of Europeanization couldn’t fix everything: “The new Europe … never really made it into everyday life, into council estates and suburbs, other than when the former were demolished to make way for something more ‘aspirational’. If the centre of Manchester became like a cheaper, rainier Barcelona, its suburbs and satellites remained resolutely part of 80s England, with all the retail parks, developers’ housing, and dreary jobs that entailed. Lottery-funded arts complexes couldn’t replace skilled work, secure housing and a sense of purpose.”