Nick Clegg: UK economy needs 'rebalancing' 18 February 2013 Last updated at 04:19 The UK economy needs major rebalancing to shift its focus away from London, according to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. In a speech in London's 'Square Mile' financial district later, Mr Clegg will say there should be a restoration of spending powers to authorities in big cities across the country. Without it, Britain will lose out on £41bn a year, he is set to claim. There can - and must - be more than one jewel in our crown. Mr Clegg will go on: "When you look at the UK's economy, never forget that its highly-centralised design is as much the result of political choices as anything else. From the big bang right until what was a monumental crash, the Labour and Conservative governments of the day were so bewitched by London's financial services that they squandered other industries and allowed other communities to wither. The previous government, in particular, recycled and redistributed City of London tax receipts to other parts of the country through the long arm of Whitehall. Emasculating the north and overburdening the south. Trying to prop up a nation of 100,000 square miles on the profits of just a single Square Mile. The speech - the first of a new annual series by the deputy prime minister - comes as the coalition is considering far reaching proposals from the former Conservative minister Lord Heseltine to greatly increase the amount of government spending local authorities across England can control.