Should northerners be forced to move south?

Tag : snow shoe

Cities in northern England are beyond saving and residents shouldmove south, a new report from the Policy Exchange think tank argues.
Urban regeneration in the north is failing its citizens so muchthat only a mass migration to London, Cambridge and Oxford wouldfree them from poverty.
To support this exodus, the report argues more affordable homesshould be built and that planning restrictions should be relaxed inthe south.
Is the Policy Exchange talking nonsense?
"No-one is suggesting that residents should be forced to move, butwe do argue that they should be told the reality of the position:regeneration, in the sense of convergence, will not happen, becauseit is not possible," the report concludes.
But is life really that bad up north? MSN Money's columnistEmma-Lou Montgomery explains why life is, indeed, better downsouth:
The case for the south
It has been the subject of debate for centuries - which is better,the north or the south? Ever since the industrial revolution, andprobably before that, the north/south divide has been in place. Andit's an argument that will no doubt never be resolved.
But even so, we all have an opinion and if you ask me, there'sreally no contest - the south is best.
Before I go on, let me explain that I'm not speaking from anuninformed viewpoint. I have loyalties to the north and the south.Some of my best friends are northern. They are. But I have evencloser links with the north than that - my mum's northern.
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It's grim 'oop north'
As a result I've been "oop north" plenty of times. And spent many aschool holiday visiting northern relatives. Back at school "downsouth" I knew that I was the only one in the school with the twotiny, but tell-tale, holes in the back of my shoes. Tell-tale onlyto northerners who frequented Blackburn's Tommy Ball's shoeemporium. (The holes were there so they could hang the shoes on therails with string, if you're wondering).
And having a northern connection had its benefits. As a result ofmy northern heritage I drank Vimto and Dandelion and Burdock yearsbefore any of my friends with southern mums had even tasted thestuff. And a bit of the north has inevitably rubbed off on me. Iget all misty-eyed when I hear the Coronation Street theme tune andI still, to this day, pronounce the word "one" as "wan" and not"wun".
But would I live up north? Would I 'eck as like, as my(Lancashire-born) granny might say. Although being a northerner sheno doubt wouldn't have used it in that context, admittedly.
Nick Louth puts forward his case on why the north is best

North of the Watford Gap
But where exactly is this invisible dividing line that separatesdown south and up north? Well any southerner will tell you it'sjust past the Watford Gap. But not according to Danny Dorling,professor of human geography at the University of Sheffield. Hesays the north begins at the Severn estuary and heads up towardsthe Humber, hitting the coast in a sort-of-diagonal line south ofGrimsby. Dorling says his new north/south division is all based ona number of more recent socio-economic developments, includingrising house prices , increased life expectancy and voting patterns.
But frankly, where he says the north/south divide begins and endsis largely irrelevant. Because we all instinctively know whetherwe're a northerner or a southerner at heart. And I'm definitely asoutherner. And proud to be one. Why?

Well, to start with, as Dorling puts it: "The south has a fewpockets of poverty in a sea of affluence, whereas the north has afew pockets of affluence in a sea of poverty." So there's yourfirst reason.
Tropical climes down south
And here's another. The weather. It's warmer down south. We don'tget as much snow, ice or rain.
Take Yorkshire last year when thousands of homes were flooded , and people were left living in caravans (and still are) whiletheir homes dried out. While it undoubtedly rains down south - takeBoscastle in Cornwall which was all but swept away by flash floodsin 2004 and then again last year - it's far less likely.Fortunately for us down here.
And on the plus-side, the balmy weather down south does mean thatBritain (and for that read southern Britain, of course) is nowproducing the sort of fruit and vegetables that have previouslyonly thrived in more exotic climes. Cox's apples will soon not bethe only indigenous fruit, with crops of almonds, kiwi fruit,apricots and even tea being grown on these shores.
Southerners in rude health
Thirdly, and very importantly, we're healthier down south. Takeheart disease. The further north you head across Britain, thehigher the number of cases. Middlesbrough on Teesside has one ofthe highest death rates from heart disease in the whole country.Figures from the British Heart Foundations show that you're anastonishing 25% more likely to suffer from heart disease if youlive in the area.
In fact, the north's only saving grace when it comes to health isthat 75% of NHS trusts in the north east were rated excellent orgood, while three-quarters of those in the south-east were ratedfair or weak.
Not that that seems to be doing much to improve northeners' lifeexpectancy. According to the Office for National Statistics,average life expectancy in Middlehaven in Middlesbrough is just54.9 years. And it's not much better in Liverpool - averaging outat 56.3 years in Everton and a still soberingly young 57.5 years inArdwick, Manchester.
Hop down south though and you could easily be celebrating your 82ndbirthday and beyond (and no doubt in style) if you happen to livein Belgravia and Knightsbridge, two of the swankiest areas ofLondon. Head out of London and into Oxfordshire and you'll average86 years in Didcot Ladygrove.
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One foot on the property ladder
One topic, on which even southerners are divided, is the high costof property in the south.
Not that we need a survey to tell us what we already know about theextortionate cost of housing in the south-east, but a Halifaxsurvey has shown that rising property prices and a shortage ofresidential land have caused land prices to increase eight-foldover the past 20 years, with the most expensive land being inLondon and the south-east. And house prices have risen 306% here inthe past 20 years.
The divide however, as you might well guess, is between those whoare already on the property ladder and those who aren't. It'sundoubtedly tough for those trying to buy their first home , but you've got to admit that it's good news for anyone who ownsproperty in the south.
London has even been weathering the current house price collapsebetter than most. The latest figures from the FT house price indexshow that while national house prices are down year on year, inLondon prices are still 4.4% higher than a year ago, whileproperties in the south-east are still 2.5% higher than 12 monthsago.
A 24-hour city: 24/7
Then last, but by no means least, there's the fact that London inparticular is a 24-hour city. You don't get shops doing half-dayclosing on Wednesdays, or taking two-hour lunch breaks.
You don't get pubs and restaurants only serving food until 2pm, youdon't have to wait for market day, once a week, to be able to buylocal produce. There's a farmers' market on every day of the weeksomewhere in our great metropolis.
No, it's definitely better down south. As Samuel Johnson put it:"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there isin London all that life can afford."
And it wasn't as though Dr Johnson was born and bred in London. AStaffordshire lad, he came to London. And stayed. I rest my case.