Well yeah, in theory. But if it was that easy, why has it not been done? No real interest in anything outside of London from the political elites? Or wider issues of infrastructure? How long have people been moaning about the east-to-west Liverpool to Hull train corridor, for example?
One of the other issues you get with this sort of thing is that communities become over-reliant on a single big employer. Imagine what would happen to the West coast of Cumbria if Sellafield closed down, for example? Or Barrow-in-Furness without BAE Systems. We've seen it before with various industries closing down and devastating local communities because without the single big employer, there's not the money in the local community to sustain any of the other businesses either.
In theory, this could even be a potential benefit of Brexit, because EU rules (I believe) would stop governments propping up industries as it's considered anti-competitive. But look at somewhere like South Korea, where there are massive protections for local business to the point that almost everyone in Korea drives a Hyundai or Kia, and has an LG or Samsung TV. I don't know if that's the way to go, but there have been plenty of examples where the UK government have refused to step in and save jobs that were already there. I seem to remember a big steel plant in South Wales a few years ago, for example.
One perfect example I remember a while ago was the government's refusal to extend the special tax rate for film and arts to videogames. They were the perfect industry. They were technology-based, culturally relevant, successful, provided good jobs, and crucially, almost entirely regional. They weren't all concentrated in London like the film and TV industry was at the time. And yet they were refused the same tax breaks.
