Think tank not thinking straight when it comes to Yorkshire

14th August 2008

By Ian Briggs
Deputy Editor

THERE'S no doubt that Policy Exchange was looking to grab the media spotlight when it published its report this week into the future of England's northern cities.

And the think tank certainly achieved its goal with most regional and national media picking up on the story.

But what it could not have predicted, judging from the reaction of TheBusinessDesk.com's users, was the backlash against the absurd suggestion that the populaces of cities such as Leeds, Bradford and Hull would do best to up sticks and move south.

Even Conservative leader David Cameron distanced himself from report from the body, which is known to lean toward Tory thinking.

Policy Exchange's reasoning for this mass exodus of the populace is that cities across northern England are "beyond revival", with their regeneration plans in ruins with people - if they stick around long enough to witness the grim future - likely to end up down a poverty cul-de-sac as the streets around us crumble.

Tim Leunig, one of the report's authors, even admitted that some people would assess the report as "barmy". You said it Tim.

Given that Mr Leunig is a university lecturer at the London School of Economics you would have thought he would have known better than to put his name to a number of sweeping generalisations that seem more apt when describing the 19th century; not the 21st.

As many posts on this website have suggested, Policy Exchange seems to think all Yorkshire residents have whippets, are on the scrounge and living in little more than shacks.

No doubt Policy Exchange simply wanted to generate debate on this issue which, to be fair, it has achieved. But by suggesting we might be better off living in Oxford or Cambridge (which are smaller than many Yorkshire towns and cities) shows a lack of understanding of this region.

If anything, many parts of Yorkshire and the North offer a better standard of living, less pollution, less unemployment and better scenery, not to mention many of its towns and cities being leading centres of commerce and cutting-edge technologies.

This report hasn't got much going for it but what it has done is help to highlight the pride the business community has for the region.

A telling feature of people's responses to it has been the numerous views of professionals who have moved from the south to live in the region and wouldn't swap it for anything else.

Maybe Policy Exchange should write a policy on that.

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