Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for 10 years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
David Wooding, (born and bred in Liverpool, apparently) writing in The Sun, quite rubbishes the report by the Tory supporting Think Tank Policy Exchange which suggests that the Government should stop "wasting money" regenerating Northern cities like his beloved Liverpool and people should get on their bikes and look for work in the South instead (like what Mr Wooding has done).
I simply mention it here because, of course, most Liverpudlians wouldn't have read Mr Wooding's article in the Soaraway Scum because they quite rightly boycott the rag over the treatment of Liverpool fans at Hillsborough.
newmania said:
August 13, 2008 4:31 PM | permalink
As I was saying ,the North floats on subsidies and the 15 billion from the RDA`s alone is hardly likely to survive the downturn . Meanwhile infra structure projects in the South have been absurdly neglected and Cornwall reduced to beggary . Look , for example at Newhaven , near me crying out for investment and with a real prospect of long term prosperity .
When business has no natural reason to locate you only ever create fragile short term fixes that disguise unemployment (eg silicon Glen) . We cannot afford it and lets not forget that the standard of living enjoyed by those 'employed' in the North is greatly superior to those in the South who pay for it
The argument for retaining regional spread is that skills will atrophy and infrastructure has to be maintained, this is much the same argument for keeping old coal mines open at a loss and not without merit . It is only realistic though to point out there is a limit as there was for coal. Which this whole problem goes back to really
The answer is of course not to rubber stamp barbaric housing development in the lush fields of the South, quite the reverse ( as you say).
As prices go up here the temptation to locate in the North will increase and the market will correct itself. This process has been stymied by jobs for the Labour heartlands none more so than the North east where more tax vouchers are earnt than real money .
In Scotland the only successful business is the part the government did not try to rig ie Oil services and the booming financial centre. The sooner the state stops bucking the regional market the better for the long term good of the whole country .
Policy Exchange is NOT a "Tory supporting think tank" - if anything, it's the Conservatives who normally (but not always) support Policy Exchange because they produce such good work.
Having said that, this report was indeed insane but you forgot to mention that most of the report was written by Tim Leunig - a Lib Dem.
August 13, 2008 4:31 PM | permalink
As I was saying ,the North floats on subsidies and the 15 billion from the RDA`s alone is hardly likely to survive the downturn . Meanwhile infra structure projects in the South have been absurdly neglected and Cornwall reduced to beggary . Look , for example at Newhaven , near me crying out for investment and with a real prospect of long term prosperity .
When business has no natural reason to locate you only ever create fragile short term fixes that disguise unemployment (eg silicon Glen) . We cannot afford it and lets not forget that the standard of living enjoyed by those 'employed' in the North is greatly superior to those in the South who pay for it
The argument for retaining regional spread is that skills will atrophy and infrastructure has to be maintained, this is much the same argument for keeping old coal mines open at a loss and not without merit . It is only realistic though to point out there is a limit as there was for coal. Which this whole problem goes back to really
The answer is of course not to rubber stamp barbaric housing development in the lush fields of the South, quite the reverse ( as you say).
As prices go up here the temptation to locate in the North will increase and the market will correct itself. This process has been stymied by jobs for the Labour heartlands none more so than the North east where more tax vouchers are earnt than real money .
In Scotland the only successful business is the part the government did not try to rig ie Oil services and the booming financial centre. The sooner the state stops bucking the regional market the better for the long term good of the whole country .
IMHO