Northerners ‘should move south’
Northern cities such as Liverpool and Sunderland have failed, and their residents should move south, a Tory think-tank has concluded.
Policy Exchange, an influential think tank with strong links to David Cameron, notes that many northern towns will never catch up with their southern counterparts in part due to graduates moving to London after university.
The report advocates effectively giving up on northern cities, including Sunderland, Hull and Bradford, and instead building three million new homes in the south east, and encouraging people to move to London and the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge.
“Oxford and Cambridge are unambiguously Britain’s leading research universities outside London and both are well located economically,” said the report. “We should consider expanding both dramatically, just as Liverpool and Manchester expanded in the 19th century.”
Residents of struggling northern towns should not ‘be forced to move’ according to Policy Exhange, but ‘they should be told the reality of the position: regeneration...is not possible.’
The think-tank’s conclusions will be an embarrassment to David Cameron, who is campaigning for marginal seats in the north.
The Department for Communities and Local Government commented: "We totally disagree with the conclusions of this report.
"Since 1997 cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle have benefited from thousands of new jobs, lower crime rates and better living standards thanks to our sustained commitment to regeneration, and investment in public services."
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