BARMY THINKING THAT WRITES OFF THE NORTH'S FUTURE
LOST POWER: A Bradford foundry in its heyday
By Jimmy Young
IT'S TRUE that David Cameron’s Conservatives are 20 points ahead of Labour in some opinion polls.
It’s also true that the majority of people are thoroughly fed up with our Labour Government.
However, if Mr Cameron wants to win the next election he must distance himself from think tanks that come up with ideas even its authors admit are barmy.
Last week the Policy Exchange think tank, described as a David Cameron favourite, produced a report that claims politics has been dominated by Government ministers pouring money into struggling Northern towns and cities that cannot be revived. Ministers, it says, must stop wasting money trying to regenerate them.
Policy Exchange claims that, because of the decline in importance of shipping, old seaports such as Liverpool and Sunderland no longer have a reason to exist.
It also claims that it is unreal to expect prosperous cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle to regenerate less well-off places, including Liverpool, Rochdale, Bradford and Sunderland.
It’s a long time since I visited those places while touring the theatre circuit and it is true that, although the two are only 12 miles apart, Sunderland always seemed the poorer neighbour of wealthy, stylish Newcastle.
However, for the Policy Exchange to describe the vibrant city of Liverpool as having lost its “raison d’être” is completely barmy.
Liverpool is the home of world-class musicians, artists and Premier League football teams. What’s more, Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool City Council, says: “The past decade has seen unprecedented growth in Liverpool’s economy, which has surpassed many southern towns and cities.”
The Policy Exchange patronisingly admits that places such as Liverpool, Rochdale, Bradford and Sunderland are not doomed and that people living there should not be forced to move.
However, says the report, residents must face up to the fact that they have little prospect of achieving the standard of living to which they aspire.
The idiotic proposal to solve the problem is mass migration from the North, with three million homes to be built to accommodate its refugees in already overcrowded London, Oxford and Cambridge.
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said it totally disagreed with the report’s conclusions.
Labour MPs gleefully seized the opportunity to claim that, if they won the next general election, the Tories would abandon the north of England.
Dismissing the report as insane, Mr Cameron was furious that it was released just as he was heading for north-west England to campaign in marginal seats.
Referring to the report’s co-author Tim Leunig, who admits people will describe his proposals as unworkable, unreasonable and barmy, an irate Mr Cameron remarked: “I gather he’s off to Australia. The sooner he gets on the ship the better.”
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