Poverty isn’t just a Northern issue Andy.

[SummerSummerSummertime]

Caught the Prime Minister on a podcast this week and he’s really stuck on a constant, hyper-focus on the North. Ok we get it, things are bad up there (former industrial heartlands etc) but as PM for the whole country, he needs to remember that hardship doesn't stop at a regional border if he wants to maintain national support.
Severe deprivation is happening right across the country, not just in northern heartlands:

London: The capital holds some of the highest actual poverty rates once astronomical housing costs are factored in.

Coastal Communities: Southern seaside towns face deep, hidden deprivation, low wages, and crumbling infrastructure.

The South & Midlands: High living expenses, struggling high streets, and insecure work hit low-income families everywhere.

He also claimed on the podcast that past governments just saw the North as "different" and forgot about it. But by constantly banging on about the North, isn't he just fuelling that exact same fire?
If he keeps treating the North as a special case, he's actively reinforcing a regional divide. Moving focus or power from Whitehall to Manchester might sound great on a podcast, but it does absolutely nothing for a struggling family in a southern coastal town who feel just as invisible to this new government as they did to the last one.
Poverty is a national crisis, not a regional identity.

If Andy wants to keep broad support, his messaging needs to acknowledge and support struggling communities everywhere.

I listened to the podcast. I think Andy is talking about London Vs the rest of the UK. He’s from the North so it’s his example. I’m from there too (not Manc), nearly all my friends and family had to go to London to kick start their careers just like he did. And then came back because we couldn’t afford to stay. It’s about fixing social mobility. It applies to the struggling places in the South too.
He’s the second ‘northern’ PM the UK has had this century. We’ve had more women do the job.

He isn’t saying poor me - you’re hearing that because it’s what YOU want to think. He’s saying look at what you can do when you have local power. Everyone, should have local power to solve local issues. He’s not covering his back he is planning to devolve power so each area of the country can tackle their specific issues.
@Monty36 there is no mismatch. The North ( and most of the rest of the country) have been ignored and this has led to feeling left behind, look what can happen when a region is not left behind. Manchester’s success proves his point, regions in the country do not have to be poor. Other areas in the North, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield need to be able to do what Manchester has done.

Also, this bloody obsession with industrial decline. What do people like him expect? Do they think giant factories are going to return to Sheffield and Newcastle and Glasgow? Does anyone even want that?! It’s not like the people who worked in those shipyards and steel factories were having a nice time ffs 🙄

This country is massively held back by its class system. But the problem isn’t the middle class. It’s the working class. The left have an idiotic, romantic view of working class life, and they have fostered the idea that being poor is something to be proud of. I grew up on a council estate and f-ing hated it. My main memory is of ugliness - ugly voices, ugly accents, ugly jokes, ugly stories, ugly clothes, ugly minds. Too many people celebrate working class life and working class traits. What other country would hold up Liam Gallagher and Jordan as heroes - two ignorant, boring, vulgar divs with filthy manners.

Equally, we ridicule any perceived ‘middle-class’ traits, like refined manners, RP accents, etc. And people who ditch their regional accent, speak nicely, develop good manners, read classic books, etc, are ‘pretentious’, whereas those who cling to their ugly regional accent, and are loud and crude, are ‘keepin it real’. I wish more people were ‘pretentious’ and taught their kids to be polite and articulate. I wish more people aspired to be ‘middle class’ and sent their kids to private schools. The lack of aspiration paralyses this country. And then we wonder why the U.K. is now poorer than the poorest US state!!!

I'm from Belfast and frankly couldn't give a toss about any of this nonsense. The UK government needs to start cracking some heads over here and get our lazy entitled politicians off their arses and actually doing their jobs. The appointment of Chris Bryant aa NI secretary doesn't exactly inspire confidence this will happen.

He might as well bang his head against a brick wall. He says and means “every” postcode. Southerners hear “only northern”.

fucks sake, they’ve had it great for years. When there’s a chance that some of it might be shared out the squealing gets louder.

Yeah but if you live in London the you are deliberately making yourself poor by insisting on living in the most expensive area of the country. People in other areas may already been living in cheap/deprived areas and are still poor.

I find this quite a bizarre take, to be honest. Nothing he is saying is contradictory.

Of course, Andy Burnham can continue to say that wealth and opportunity are disproportionately concentrated in London and the South East - because that is a statistical fact, that has been acknowledged by successive politicians, including George Osborne and Boris Johnson. No one has ever said that means everywhere in the South is wealthy or that everywhere in the North is poor. Andy Burnham isn’t saying that either.

Nor is he denying Manchester is doing well now - he is saying despite ingrained disadvantage, Manchester is booming because successful regional leaders - himself included - have fought for more control over that region, and have used that increased control to bring investment into their region and drive growth.

His whole proposal is that - given the same amount of fiscal and political control Manchester has had - other regions who have also been historically disadvantaged by the hoarding of power and wealth in Whitehall - can drive growth into their regions too.

There also needs to be a recognition that if you are under 40ish in the south you may be saddled with the horrible combination of an enormous student loan, a sky high mortgage or rent, and huge childcare bills. I know so many younger people with reasonable jobs who are scraping by

I think there’s some truth in this. I’m pretty sure some commentators will never really engage in good faith with the substance of what’s he saying.

But on a more hopeful note, I think the vast majority of people across the country do understand what Andy Burnham means when he talks about every post code, and are willing to give him a chance to come good on his word: that’s why he is by far the most popular politician in the country right now.

It’s really not like that.

Listen to his interview. He’s obsessed with “The North” - definitely a Professional Northerner.

But yes, let’s hope he does mean every postcode 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Jaywick, near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, has been named the most deprived neighbourhood in England for the fourth consecutive time since 2010, new data shows.

Seven areas in Blackpool are also among the 10 most deprived, alongside one in Hastings and one in Rotherham, according to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Half of the neighbourhoods in Middlesbrough are very deprived, making it the council with the highest proportion, ahead of Birmingham and Hartlepool.

I’ve listened to lots of interviews with him - including the How to Fail podcast, which I think might be the one you’re referring to.

He did talk about the North a lot - but that’s because that interview was about his life and experiences, and how they’ve shaped his world view. I really don’t think there’s anything wrong in being deeply proud of the place you come from, insightful and self aware about the ways that place has shaped you and determined to use lessons from your own experiences of a specific place to the benefit of the country as a whole.

You’re talking about an interview asking him about his upbringing and his life. Of course he’s talking about his life in the north of England.

You’re being deliberately disingenuous. Maybe you preferred Boris

I get fed up with the way he keeps referring to the south as the north!

No Manchester is NOT in the north of the UK!!!!!

I doubt he’ll visit even if he is their MP. His record hasn’t been great so far for holding surgeries and, you know, doing his job and talking to his constituents?

Where in 'the South'?

The men who went on about it clearly got their way then!

Wow! You've said a lot about yourself there.

What do people like him expect?
Who are the people like him exactly?

It’s not like the people who worked in those shipyards and steel factories were having a nice time ffs
They kind of liked having jobs though.

But the problem isn’t the middle class. It’s the working class.
Riiiight.

Equally, we ridicule any perceived ‘middle-class’ traits, like refined manners, RP accents, etc. And people who ditch their regional accent, speak nicely, develop good manners, read classic books, etc, are ‘pretentious’, whereas those who cling to their ugly regional accent, and are loud and crude, are ‘keepin it real’. I wish more people were ‘pretentious’ and taught their kids to be polite and articulate. I wish more people aspired to be ‘middle class’ and sent their kids to private schools.

Fascinating.

What is it like then?

🤣🤣🤣 that's just silly! It's hardly the Midlands or the south, is it?

I heard the same podcast: the How to Fail podcast.
I came to the conclusion that Andy has a massive chip on his shoulder about the South.

what do you mean?
Manchester is in the North West!

This is sooo boring 🥱

Where in “the South”? Not Jaywick (the most deprived neighbourhood in England) I assume? Not Thanet, or Hastings, or Great Yarmouth either I’d guess.