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Original poster

The north/south divide still alive and well

206 replies

Heatheronthehill · 15/12/2020 22:03

So infections are dropping considerably where I live in the North West, we’ve had some sort of restrictions in place since July. Now that London and the South East have an increase in infections they are considering not allowing the mixing of households at Christmas time, my question is would they do the same if the situation was reversed?
I’m also angry that there’s an uproar over tier 3 and how dreadful it is, when we’ve been living with the same up here for months.

I suppose many will disagree, but I feel there’s a real bias towards the North unfortunately.

OP posts:
sleepwouldbenice · 16/12/2020 08:22

Stop the chip on the shoulder bullshit.it’s fact

Media is full of pictures of the north partying and shopping but not so much the south

Manchester is delayed going into tier 3 as govt would not agree to a proper funding package but then keeps the furlough scheme when London businesses are threatened

Some schools and education in the north have been desimated. HitsLondon school and mass testing, which had been promised in the north but was limited, appears for London schools

Now London is being impacted Christmas plans might change for everyone whereas when the north was mostly impacted we took a regional approach

It’s not a chip on the shoulder. It’s real

SendHelp30 · 16/12/2020 08:24

Just leaving this here.

Dobbyhasnomaster · 16/12/2020 08:24

I’m really upset about this. As soon as cases started to rise around here we were all locked down and told to get on with it, and as soon as cases go up in London they start mass testing all of their schools?! Where were they for the northern children? Outcry at going into tier 3, when we’ve been stuck here for months with all our businesses closed. Agreeing to an earlier review to appease the London MP’s.... WTF! I’m angry that they are getting away with this and feel we need a much stronger presence in the north. My MP has been a complete wet blanket so it’s no wonder we’ve got the dodgy end of the stick.

nancy75 · 16/12/2020 08:33

@Dobbyhasnomaster

I’m really upset about this. As soon as cases started to rise around here we were all locked down and told to get on with it, and as soon as cases go up in London they start mass testing all of their schools?! Where were they for the northern children? Outcry at going into tier 3, when we’ve been stuck here for months with all our businesses closed. Agreeing to an earlier review to appease the London MP’s.... WTF! I’m angry that they are getting away with this and feel we need a much stronger presence in the north. My MP has been a complete wet blanket so it’s no wonder we’ve got the dodgy end of the stick.
They are not mass testing all of our schools. It’s only been said a million times - they are testing in 7 out of 32 boroughs. That’s not all, it’s not even most. The majority of London school kids are not getting tested.
Walkaround · 16/12/2020 08:40

It’s people in the North of England deciding to vote conservative for the first time that got us this Government. That’s democracy for you!

It’s a bit rich complaining that winter is different to summer, though. I think anyone opening anywhere up at the moment would be a little bit insane if their aim was to control the virus, rather than mollify different parts of the country. It’s not the fault of the South that the North had higher rates all summer, any more than it’s the fault of the North it’s now happening in the South, but it’s daft to expect a virus to behave “fairly.”

Whattimeisdinner · 16/12/2020 08:44

It’s people in the North of England deciding to vote conservative for the first time that got us this Government. That’s democracy for you!

You might want to take another look at the election result map there.

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 08:47

@Whattimeisdinner

It’s people in the North of England deciding to vote conservative for the first time that got us this Government. That’s democracy for you!

You might want to take another look at the election result map there.

I don’t need to. The lovely big majority is thanks to people changing lifelong voting patterns. The South remained fairly consistent.
CorianderQueen · 16/12/2020 08:47

It's not like we're living normal lives in London though... we've still had the lockdowns and restrictions in between. Loads of hospitality venues have closed and we haven't been allowed in houses in months.

Yes, there is a disparity between London and the North, but it's almost like everyone thinks we're just having a ball down here.

(And I am Northern btw so I do get the anger and the divide. I've seen my mum once since last year).

Micah · 16/12/2020 08:48

I have lived all over the UK, including London. I would have said even last year the north/south divide wasn't as much of a thing as people say it is. Apart from public transport and property I didn't find living in London any better or worse than anywhere else.

However I agree that these past months have shown the self interest and London-centric perception of our politicians.

The last few days of the woe is me whinging from Londoners has shown their self importance. London theatres being so special- there are theatres in every major city and town shut for months, but it's only the London theatres that "bring joy" to it's patrons. Only London Taxi's losing money, Only London restaurants facing closure. It doesn't seem to occur to them that the rest of the country has been facing this for months, and yes, they do have taxi's, restaurants, shops and businesses too..

The "oh we're so special" attitude is pissing me off. They've had a free pass for months, despite much higher infection rates.

Whattimeisdinner · 16/12/2020 08:49

Just for you Walkaround

Look at all the red up North and all the blue down South 🤪

The north/south divide still alive and well
Whattimeisdinner · 16/12/2020 08:50

The South remained fairly consistent.
Yes. Blue.

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 08:51

@Whattimeisdinner - and now you know why.

Whattimeisdinner · 16/12/2020 08:52

and now you know why

Why we are in this mess?

Whattimeisdinner · 16/12/2020 08:54

The second part of your post I agree with entirely btw Walkaround

bluebluezoo · 16/12/2020 08:55

Yes, there is a disparity between London and the North, but it's almost like everyone thinks we're just having a ball down here

Not a ball. Of course we don't think that. It's the simple things like being able to go into someones house, being able to eat in a restaurant or drink in a pub. Christmas shopping in Tier 3 is queues for every shop, buying food and eating it walking round as you can't even sit on a bench outside. I have put on a stone as my CrossFit gym is closed as indoor classes can't run.

My kids can't socialise outside school. Thy'e bored stiff.

I can't drive the hour to see my elderly mum. I haven't seen family since the beginning of all this, while my il's in London are going out for meals and to the pub.

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 09:02

@Whattimeisdinner - we are in this mess because our “democracy” is undemocratic. My vote has been meaningless my entire life, because I have always lived in “safe seats.” People seem to think the only way they can change anything is to swing from one extreme to another - but when you are voting for what is effectively just a 2-party system, you’re potentially just voting for a party powerful enough to ignore you once it’s in power, because you’ve given it so much power and little incentive to change.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 16/12/2020 09:17

‘It’s not a chip on the shoulder. It’s real’

This^

I’ve lived in the North nearly all my life. People still remember the Miners’ strike, and how Thatcher destroyed the north of England. Yes it’s years ago, but the north hasn’t forgotten. This just seems like the same shit with a different government. So it’s inflamed old tensions.

There is so much anger and fury on my local fb page. I have friends in Manchester. They feel the same. It’s reopened old wounds.

I live near an old mining town. A lot of this town turned into the Blue Wall. But the anger is real believe me. I feel this may tip over into riots. What is this government doing for the areas it agreed to level up? I see HSBC is fading already. Where’s the infrastructure for East/West traffic in the North. The M62? The shit transpeninine trains?. Why isn’t the north interconnected by widespread public transport like the south?

The anger is so real

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 09:20

I think this country’s biggest issue is the pitting of one side against another all the time, always looking for the one “bad guy”, which is typical of a 2-party system. People don’t take smaller parties seriously, even when they have serious things to say. Two party systems do not comprehend the meaning of the word compromise.

BillMasen · 16/12/2020 09:21

And also

High rates in “northern” cities. It’s too hard to split counties so lock the whole County Down.

High rates in southern cities. Break the County Down and avoid inconveniencing everyone

Yes there’s a N/S divide. From the gov not the people who live there

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 09:24

@BillMasen - where have they broken counties down in the South? Kent said it wanted that, it didn’t get it.

Dobbyhasnomaster · 16/12/2020 09:24

@nancy75 that’s 7 more than they are testing in the north, and we’ve had regions with much higher cases up here.

nancy75 · 16/12/2020 09:26

[quote Dobbyhasnomaster]@nancy75 that’s 7 more than they are testing in the north, and we’ve had regions with much higher cases up here.[/quote]
They tested the whole of Liverpool - I believe that’s in the north? Not just school kids, in demand testing for everyone.
Were you angry about Liverpool getting tests? Liverpool got more tests than London schools are getting.

Walkaround · 16/12/2020 09:27

@Dobbyhasnomaster - it’s only recently this mass testing has been available and offered, and it was tested first in the North. Now they are prioritising areas with exponential growth. In what way is that not logical? I thought the North was arguing that many of its areas should be moving down to tier 2, not that it had exponential growth still going on there?

CorianderQueen · 16/12/2020 09:29

@bluebluezoo

Yes, there is a disparity between London and the North, but it's almost like everyone thinks we're just having a ball down here

Not a ball. Of course we don't think that. It's the simple things like being able to go into someones house, being able to eat in a restaurant or drink in a pub. Christmas shopping in Tier 3 is queues for every shop, buying food and eating it walking round as you can't even sit on a bench outside. I have put on a stone as my CrossFit gym is closed as indoor classes can't run.

My kids can't socialise outside school. Thy'e bored stiff.

I can't drive the hour to see my elderly mum. I haven't seen family since the beginning of all this, while my il's in London are going out for meals and to the pub.

We can go to the pub so I understand that annoyance although only with our household and it's v clinical.

We also can't go in houses.

We also have to queue for all the shops.

We can only eat or drink with other households outside.

I have seen my mum once since last December.

It's really not as dramatic a difference as I think you think it is.

Dobbyhasnomaster · 16/12/2020 09:34

@nancy75 yes, of course schools and cities are the same thing, excellent logic 😂

@Walkaround also not what I said.

I give up!