To think the Northern towns deserve "levelling up"

[EricBartholomew]

It's been a good news day in that the levelling up fund has now been distributed and announced. Today on the radio I've heard much disappointment from those who weren't afforded funding (in Leeds and certain areas in Liverpool, other cities).

AIBU to be pleased that the biggest lump of cash is going to somewhere like Morecambe and not a city or a town of the fringes of a city? They already benefit from the wealth there and the investment that comes with it.

There has been a feeling of being "left to rot" in some of these towns for so long that we have nothing but our communities pulling together. I'm so pleased that there is hope (and funding) today for the beautiful Morecambe Bay and other towns that have got levelling up funding. It's well deserved.

Levelling up was always a con, another empty, meaningless slogan. See also take back control.

If you look at pretty much any area (or at least most areas) and compare it to say 10 years ago, things are worse on the whole.

Ground down would be the more accurate description.

I didn’t, luckily.

You could say the North is the home of the red wall though who have been instrumental in installing the Tory government. And Brexit.

To say Morecambe isn't poverty stricken is ridiculous.

Eden has the potential to be good for the town but if they don't fix the town itself, all we will have is people coming to it on their way home from the Lakes rather than staying in a run down b&b facing boarded up shops.

The Bay is stunning. The work that has been done to the prom is really well done, but the town centre and the west end are a mess and will deter visitors.

Eden will hopefully provide something for the winter season as there is currently very little, but I really, really hope the wider area is considered.

In my area (north west/north midlands border) the rather nice market town got all the cash and the more deprived areas got nothing.

"To say Morecambe isn't poverty stricken is ridiculous."

I haven't said it isn't

"In my area (north west/north midlands border) the rather nice market town got all the cash and the more deprived areas got nothing."

That's a shame, Morecambe has always been the poor cousin of Lancaster which is why there was an air of "I'll believe it when I see it" about this bid

It’s a microscopic amount of money to convince people like you that the torries care. In reality it will barely touch the sides.

Also, let’s not get sucked into the narrative that all deprivation is in the north. Cornwall is the most deprived county in the UK.

Hahahaha the tories couldn't give a shiny shit about anyone 🤣

Mate, I'll never vote Tory while there is breath in my body. Don't you worry about that.

"Also, let’s not get sucked into the narrative that all deprivation is in the north. Cornwall is the most deprived county in the UK."

Let's not get sucked into the narrative that because Cornwall has unusually high levels of deprivation for the south, we should make the discussion about that rather than the truth. Which is that there are seriously higher levels of deprivation in the north as a whole.

Sorry but that’s utter bollocks. If you think Cornwall and the South West are in any way comparable to the South East to the extent that you can talk about the ‘south as a whole’ then you don’t have a clue! You can draw a line up from Southampton and the lives of people on the left are incredibly different to those to the right.

"If you think Cornwall and the South West are in any way comparable to the South East"

I don't

I'm saying the whole of the north is never far from deprivation compared to just one part of the south. Which is why we shouldn't let that one part of the south become the focal point.

I live in the south east (nearly 1k a month for a shitty 1 bed rental.. yayyyy but at least I can get to London easily! Can't afford it mind)
Morecambe is on my visit list because I love exploring our beautiful island.
The Eden project (Cornwall or otherwise) is not. I've been to the one in Cornwall twice. It's overpriced, tatty old run down shite. When it was brand new it was ok, but now its over £30 each and its just not worth it.
There's much better ways of improving areas. As past posters have said, without reliable, affordable transport, you might as well not bother.

"There's much better ways of improving areas. As past posters have said, without reliable, affordable transport, you might as well not bother."

There are much better ways of improving areas but when that option is not there? We've been left to rot here and the only offer on the table was this one. I say, ok, let's get behind it then and use it to our advantage.

Transport links - well, it's no secret that public transport is more expensive in the north. But Morecambe specifically has fantastic road links now. We need arriva north west to disappear off the face of the earth ideally, but the Eden proposal includes an electric train from Lancaster.

Why say this then?

Let's not get sucked into the narrative that because Cornwall has unusually high levels of deprivation for the south

The two halves of the south are night and day. It isn’t just Cornwall - Devon, Somerset, parts of Dorset and Wiltshire… because it isn’t rocket science that if your nearest city is a 2 hour drive away, you’re at a disadvantage to somebody who can be in a sizeable city in 2 train stops.

The houses are on average a third more expensive than the North despite the average wage is the same.

There are plenty of kids down here growing up on caravan sites or in mobile homes.

I think the North is so used to being told it’s the hardest done by that even when the facts don’t match, they can’t accept it.

I do a public service job where the salary is exactly the same at my level across the country (well unless London then you get weighting). If I lived in the North I could afford a much better house than where I live now. My standard of living would be much improved.

This

Transport links - well, it's no secret that public transport is more expensive in the north

What makes you think it’s any different down
here?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-public-transport-most-expensive-b2022534.html?amp

This says London has it the worst.

@Cuppasoupmonster well if you'd pasted the second half of my sentence you'd see why I said it 🙈🤣

Talk about cherry picking. Anyway, I'm not here to argue about Cornwall vs the North. In my OP you'll see my point is that I was saying I'm happy that a small, forgotten about town like Morecambe got the biggest lump of cash as opposed to big cities like Leeds and Liverpool for once (both of them in the north I might add).

👏

I don’t really care about levelling up although I’m glad op is happy.

I agree with this though

But then again this is the same public that was cheering, banging pots and pans like idiots in their doorways while locked away and spending printed billions, not considering for a second what that would do to the economy.

Idiocy not to regard impact to economy and actually demand it.

@EricBartholomew
@sst1234

SSt said it all.

the follow up is would you stand for election. If no then it's not a wonder we get ruled by these people.

2 billion is a joke. Needs to be 200 billion

"Transport links - well, it's no secret that public transport is more expensive in the north

What makes you think it’s any different down
here?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-public-transport-most-expensive-b2022534.html?amp

This says London has it the worst."

No no, that's a study of 36 CITIES across Europe. It's got sweet FA to do with any of this. Have a look at the deprivation map I posted, as measured by our own shitty government. Applying data several ways still shows the deprivation of northern towns to be generally worse. And some of Cornwall, London and Essex.

You might as well at least look at the links that are relevant rather than post an article about European cities 🤣

I'm sorry for your part of Cornwall and I empathise. But you are getting worked up at the wrong person and cutting the ends off my sentences to squeeze them into your narrative is just daft.

"2 billion is a joke. Needs to be 200 billion"

Yes. I agree.

AIBU to be pleased that the biggest lump of cash is going to somewhere like Morecambe and not a city or a town of the fringes of a city?

more should have been given in funding to the north.

The south east is where the level is up, the north has places that are down and need funding to bring it up - it you fund in the south east its not going to be level

It's a specific pot of money, for specific types of projects though, capital projects, not day to day running costs. Soooo.... your local councils decide what they want to bid for, you would hope they would scope out the local population to ask what they would like?? Maybe not.... but Cornwall and Wales are getting transport projects, both desparately needed, and often overlooked too.

In the first round the majority of the investment went North, I don't think anyone complained then did they?

Money for other projects comes from other budgets. Like the freeports thing recently. They went around the country North, South, and East.