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AIBU?

to ask people in Northern Leave constituencies what changes you would like to see in your area?

109 replies

chomalungma · 15/12/2019 12:27

I really hope there is going to be change in these areas. I live near some of them and I can see some of the issues. But I don't live in them.

What would you like to see done in your area? What advice would you give to the Conservatives when they come and ask for what needs to be done locally?

Transport links?
Encouraging businesses locally
Better local housing?
Improved schools

What would you like to see change in your local area?

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chomalungma · 15/12/2019 12:28

This can be expanded to other areas that voted Leave - not just 'Northern' - but those in the Labour 'red wall'.

It might be good for people to listen rather than come up with 'sarcy' comments.

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geordiejock · 15/12/2019 12:46

Until recently I lived in Blyth Valley, that incredibly is now a Conservative constituency.

They could make this area the poster boy for why solid labour seats should vote Tory. Dual the A1 all the way to Scotland ( they have been promising this for decades) and bring back a passenger train service. We all know the northern powerhouse thing is just bluff, but they could point at these and at least claim to be trying.

Marginal constituencies are the ones that tend to do best whoever is in power to obvious reasons.

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Marleyisme · 15/12/2019 13:03

My area is still labour but by a small majority, now.

What they need to do is stop killing off the town centres by allowing massive shopping areas just outside. My town was a thriving town centre. So many people could walk to it. It a like a ghost town now we have a shopping outlet nearby and a big shopping centre going up next to that.

Public transport is so poor here most locals wont use them. They are just off the motorway so attracts people from further away these people dont spend anything outside these places so doesnt help the town.

They need to attract more businesses that are not just warehouses, retail and bingo halls.

Most of all the local MP needs to stop pretending to be one of the people, because they live here and admit they live I a huge mansion that has been secluded and had huge trees installed all the way to secluded itself further.

The local MP actually needs to understand the people. Not pretend they know what happening.

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PhilSwagielka · 15/12/2019 13:08

Not in a Leave area, BUT one thing I would love is for the government to invest more in transport and infrastructure. We are not equipped to cope with extreme weather - I was stuck on a train in the heatwave earlier this year for an hour when a signal point near Ely broke down due to the heat - and two days ago, shitloads of trains around Manchester/Lancashire were cancelled due to wire failures. It's not an irregular occurrence.

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BarbaraofSeville · 15/12/2019 13:15

Equal spending per capita on public transport and a proper mass transit system for West Yorkshire - Leeds is the largest city in Europe without such a facility. A high speed railway from Liverpool to Hull, serving the cities along the way for freight and people.

Shelve HS2. It won't benefit us, all it will do will increase the range where wealthy commuters can live and continue to work in London/SE.

Encourage businesses to locate the good jobs in northern cities not London.

Baffled as to why so many people up here think that the Conservatives are going to do anything that is in the interests of the average working class northern leave voter though.

They never have before and Boris poncing around in a spotless high vis vest playing with fork lift trucks doesn't give me much hope that will ever change.

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CactusAndCacti · 15/12/2019 13:16

Leave area, but a remainer.

More jobs, less potholes, improved train services (we have been waiting a long time for the Pacers to be replaced), I'm not sure if housing is a major issue, though we have an oversupply of luxury housing which is generally unaffordable, poor police services, difficulty accessing health and care services.

But the big thing is feeling not being listened to. I will never see eye to eye with one of our local Tory MP's, but he is out there pounding the streets and people feel that he has brought about change, however small that may be.

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chomalungma · 15/12/2019 13:17

I really hope town centres get revitalised. Maybe not shops - but as something to encourage people to go there.

And yes - local transport. And good dual carriagewayed roads.

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TinklyLittleLaugh · 15/12/2019 13:19

They've done fuck all for 10 years. They're really not going to start now.

No one in the north thinks HS2 is a good idea, when it takes about 3 hours to get from Manchester to Liverpool by train.

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Marleyisme · 15/12/2019 13:19

Here people who voted for tories because they are fed up of labour and, often,their local mp.

If labour had 2 candidates here I think they would have won by a larger margin. But the current mp would have lost.

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SupportHuman · 15/12/2019 13:20

Transport transport transport.

Fuck HS2 making it fractionally faster for city dwellers to get from city to city.

People in more rural areas (and I don't even mean the middle of nowhere, I just mean towns in rural areas) need to be able to get to cities in the first place! It's no use us having a high speed train link between cities that take us 3 hours to get to despite only being 20 miles away.

Public transport being massively improved would open up access for so much.

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user1497207191 · 15/12/2019 13:25

We need far better transport infrastructure, not just trains and buses, but we need road improvements too alongside.

We need more quality employment - not just factories and warehouses - we need big business to either move their head offices into the regions or to re-open regional offices. It's crazy that students moved to Uni and then never return to their home towns because there's no quality employment opportunities. There used to be head offices, regional offices of big firms in towns and cities all over the UK - now it's all been centralised in London, so graduates wanting a good job leave to go to London and never return to their home towns, leaving a vacuum.

Far more support for small businesses is also needed - we need affordable start up hubs in every town, lower costs, grants & incentives & assistance for small firms to employ people. At the moment, one man firms won't employ people due to cost, risk, lack of support etc - that must change so small businesses can grow.

How about we get back to the country being "a nation of shop-keepers" - well not shops per-se but a nation of self employed small businesses.

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MyMajesty · 15/12/2019 13:27

To people saying you want these things - do you believe that Brexit and/or the Tory government will provide them?

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SupportHuman · 15/12/2019 13:29

@MyMajesty - lol nope

That's why I voted Remain and Labour!

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FormerlyFrikadela01 · 15/12/2019 13:31

Better schools, far too many schools in my area rated required improvement or inadequate, the choices ate basically shit or shitter.

Better and more affordable public transport. I live 15 minutes away from work but it's at least an hour on the bus, and £20 a week for the privilege far cheaper to run our car (we have 1 between us).

Agree with scrapping hs2. It's been a joke from the beginning and as pp said will just increase house prices and create london commuter towns up the line.

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Andysbestadventure · 15/12/2019 13:33

It takes 36 minutes @TinklyLittleLaugh Confused Oxford Road straight to Lime St, two stops. What trains are you getting??

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CactusAndCacti · 15/12/2019 13:33

mymajesty no I don't, but it will still be Labour's fault when it doesn't happen.

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Justanotherlurker · 15/12/2019 13:41

To people saying you want these things - do you believe that Brexit and/or the Tory government will provide them?

Well the issue is this Parliment will be put to test, just like some on here are already saying if they don't it will be labours fault.

Asking leading questions when the government is only a couple of days old isn't productive for anyone.

It's labour who lost the heartlands, it's for labour to self reflect as to why, not to re-hash 3 year old conversations that clearly didn't work the first time round.

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CurbsideProphet · 15/12/2019 13:46

We're left leaning remainers in a leave voting Conservative Northern area. We have yet another Conservative MP who lives miles and miles away. We didn't even get a leaflet from them, yet still people voted Conservative.

Current issues in our area:

Public transport is non existent really for us (a few buses a day, train station 6 miles away). HS2 will make no difference to our lives, we're stuck with the abysmal Norther Rail and the 1970s bus carriages.

There are plans to build more houses on the green belt in the area. These won't be affordable first time buyer houses, just Redrow or similar new builds crammed in together. The nearest big supermarkets are 6+ miles away and it's difficult enough to get a GP appointment. The roads are in a terrible state (continually ruining our tyres) and aren't made for more traffic. Our nearest 24 hour A&E is 12 miles away.

County lines drug dealing is becoming an issue. As is continual car theft and burglary. We're not yet a Rural Priority Area for the police. They do what they can with their resources, but they need more officers.

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IdiotInDisguise · 15/12/2019 13:49

HS2 doesn’t bring any benefits to Northern people, just enables rich people in London areas to travel faster to meetings further away.

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Wtfdoipick · 15/12/2019 13:54

I may live near curbside project, local train station 6 miles away and the bus service that gets you there is appalling, daytime only and runs every 2 hours. It's quicker to go to a further away town and get a train from there but the connections are awful and it's a 20 minute walk between the bus station and the train station. There is no investment in anything that makes sense, yes they have had grants from the EU which did for example some sculptures which are supposed to encourage tourism but the area does not have the infrastructure to support tourism, we don't have accommodation for them, we don't have the cafes, restaurants etc to feed them. It's wasted money, we need a complete overhaul to benefit from anything like that, things are just badly thought out.

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chomalungma · 15/12/2019 14:29

There is no investment in anything that makes sense

I hope there is going to be more investment - but it needs to be investment that is needed and not just thrown at ill thought out projects.

Schools need investment - but you are going to want to have teachers who want to work in them.

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crankysaurus · 15/12/2019 14:39

Investment in schools, both rural and city, and especially in SEND.
Investment in local public transport.
Investment in flood defences.

A sense of fairness with investment in the South.

A sense of being listened to. I grew up down south, have lived all round the country, and the London bubble is never more apparent than it is from here.

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MereDintofPandiculation · 15/12/2019 14:47

Everything that BarbaraofSeville says. Average traffic speeds during rush hour in Leeds are worse than London, but there is no adequate public transport system. Rail services are 2 an hour with frequent cancellations, and Leeds still has those old trains built from a bus that were meant as a stop gap 30 years ago, and buses are equally infrequent. 9 miles into city centre takes an hour whatever means of transport you use, but if you want to go anywhere except the centre, the only practical choice is private car. Hence Leeds has had illegally high air pollution for years.

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Marleyisme · 15/12/2019 14:54

To people saying you want these things - do you believe that Brexit and/or the Tory government will provide them?

Nope. But then labour didnt really improve these things either. People are generally fed up.

They dont like their local MP (labour). They dont feel she does anything for them. Hence the MPs majority being smaller. I will be surprised if this MP survives another election.

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MereDintofPandiculation · 15/12/2019 14:58

We need affordable first time buyer housing which is near to jobs, not "5 bed executive homes" on greenbelt miles from public transport or employment. We need the government grant to local Councils increased - urban northern Councils have born the brunt of the cuts since 2010 and now are struggling to fulfil their statutory duties.

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