Britain does not have a second city

When asked if Manchester was Britain’s “second city”, former council leader Richard Leese famously replied: “of course not” – and that he was happy Birmingham and London were battling it out. Manchester, of course, was not second (typical boosterism from a city that has never lacked self-belief).

The second city contest reared its head again recently, with Birmingham-born comedian Stewart Lee penning a piece for The Observer. In it, he described Brummies’ fears of outdoing themselves as one of the city’s “loveliest features”. Instead, Manchester, he wrote, is “the city’s equivalent of an endlessly barking dog expecting disgusted passers-by to applaud”. I’m not sure about Birmingham’s fear of outdoing itself: in my experience, it continues to be the second city; Manchester, on the other hand, doesn’t say it out loud, but that’s only because he thinks it’s so obvious that it doesn’t need to be stated.

But of…