tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post8735430105174007886..comments2023-10-16T15:59:02.445+01:00Comments on NEIL HARDING: Tories say 'Close The North Down'.Neil Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-74442313105086463932008-08-14T15:52:00.000+01:002008-08-14T15:52:00.000+01:00snafu 'is welfare state to blame?':- The short ans...snafu 'is welfare state to blame?':- The short answer is 'NO'. Welfare is a symptom not a cause.Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-66567442191558318702008-08-14T15:51:00.000+01:002008-08-14T15:51:00.000+01:00Mark, Rory: It is just naive to think we can forge...Mark, Rory: It is just naive to think we can forget about people because a region has become 'difficult' to regenerate. It is not realistic to expect huge numbers of people to immediately move around the country at the drop of a hat - uprooting all their ties and social connections. It is not always possible for them to move either - when you look at the difference in housing costs. There are economic inefficiencies to this chop and change system as well. Even if such a geographical 'cleansing' were desirable, there are huge long term costs to having a lop sided country - strains on environmental resources etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-48176423612317197932008-08-14T15:36:00.000+01:002008-08-14T15:36:00.000+01:00Rory M makes further good points, and Snafu's last...Rory M makes further good points, and Snafu's last question ought to be answered.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-26494953548705351752008-08-14T13:11:00.000+01:002008-08-14T13:11:00.000+01:00Why would anyone want to live down South? It's a h...Why would anyone want to live down South? It's a hell hole!<BR/><BR/>Interesting to note that people living in these "failing" cities are heavily reliant on benefits to function.<BR/><BR/>Is the welfare state to blame? The solution is not more "investment"Snafuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16069053283344578792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-51057008037451149052008-08-14T02:38:00.000+01:002008-08-14T02:38:00.000+01:00If "giving up on" means stopping stealing money fr...If "giving up on" means stopping stealing money from one group of people so that another group can continue their inefficient, outdated way of life, then I'm in favour of it.<BR/><BR/>I don't really see why a region that used to be populated in the past must ipso facto be populated in the future, and that's even before we get to the moral issues about using the force of the state to steal people's money in order to fund such an exercise.<BR/><BR/>Fundamentally, government should respond to the people and if it must provide services, should do so following the public rather than attempting to force them to stay where it thinks they belong (or, indeed, to nudge them to where it thinks they should go!).<BR/><BR/>Rory MeakinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-47929028294873281072008-08-13T11:32:00.000+01:002008-08-13T11:32:00.000+01:00Mark, I agree that the '3 million homes' that Labo...Mark, I agree that the '3 million homes' that Labour propose (in practise they are nowhere near having policies to make this happen) - should be mostly built in the prosperous South - this does ask questions of infrastructure and natural resources - but all are surmountable. But apart from that this Tory pamphlet does smell of simpleton Tories ignoring as usual the social and economic consequences of what they are proposing. There is no reason to 'give up' on the North - if Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle can be turned around (which they acknowledge has happened) then so too can neraby Liverpool, Bradford and Sunderland - but they need large investment and of course that has risks - but we cannot just leave these places to rot. <BR/><BR/>And of course Land Value Tax is a great idea whose time has most definitely come.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14115431.post-65436289915265658342008-08-13T10:42:00.000+01:002008-08-13T10:42:00.000+01:00It's a Big Topic. But hats off to Policy Exchange ...It's a Big Topic. But hats off to Policy Exchange (who have published lots of sensible pamplets on liberalising planning laws*) - at least they are putting a shot across the bows of the Southern NIMBYs!!!<BR/><BR/>* Even though I could never convince them that besides the liberalisation carrot you need the Land Value Tax stick, but hey.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.com