Northampton, a town of some 250,000 people located almost as far from the coast as it is possible to get in England, is a pleasant place. It has become even nicer recently. A fleet of new electric buses trundles(缓慢行驶) along the roads. A derelict(废弃的，破败的) pub, the Old Black Lion, has been beautifully renovated. The market square has been spruced up(整修一新，打扮整洁). It will soon acquire a giant sandpit and deckchairs, for those who cannot face the drive to the seaside.
北安普顿，一个约有25万人口的小镇，位于英格兰几乎最远离海岸的内陆地区，是个宜人的地方。最近它变得更加美好。一排新型电动公交车在道路上缓缓行驶。一家废弃的酒吧“老黑狮”经过精美翻新。集市广场也修葺一新。很快，这里还将增设一个巨大的沙坑和躺椅，供那些不愿开车去海边的人使用。
What might surprise a foreign visitor, although probably not a Briton, is how these enhancements have been paid for. Every one, including the temporary beach, is financed(提供资金，资助) at least partly by the national government in Westminster. “Funded by UK government,” reads a sign in the market square, just to rub it in(反复提及令人不快的事).
可能会让外国游客惊讶（但大概不会让英国人惊讶）的是，这些改善措施的资金来源。每一项，包括临时海滩，至少部分由威斯敏斯特的中央政府资助。集市广场上的一块牌子上写着“由英国政府资助”，简直是在刻意强调这一点。
Britain’s national government grips England—though not Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales—with a tightness that would embarrass a dictator.(英国中央政府牢牢控制英格兰，其程度令独裁者汗颜。) Westminster decides everything from the sums that local authorities can charge for planning applications (90% of the processing cost) to the tinkling(叮当声，清脆的响声) of ice-cream vans (“the passage of music played should not last more than 12 seconds”). It collects almost all taxes, leaving a pittance(微薄的数额) for local governments (see chart). “We are more centralised than New Zealand, which has five million people,” says Philip McCann, a regional economist at the University of Manchester.
英国中央政府牢牢掌控着英格兰——尽管不包括北爱尔兰、苏格兰或威尔士——其控制之严密，连独裁者都会感到汗颜。威斯敏斯特决定一切，从地方当局对规划申请收取的费用（处理成本的90%），到冰淇淋车的音乐播放（“播放音乐的时长不得超过12秒”）。它几乎征收所有税收，只留给地方政府微薄的一点（见图表）。曼彻斯特大学区域经济学家菲利普·麦卡恩说：“我们比拥有500万人口的新西兰还要集权。”
Left-behind places
被遗忘的地方