Post

Tom Forth
@tomforth.co.uk

DeepSeek summarises it as "North England's poverty stems from historical SE-centric governance, delayed universities, industrial decline, and Thatcher’s centralization. Solutions: decentralize power, invest in Northern infrastructure/R&D, relocate government". I agree.

Tom Forth
@tomforth.co.uk

Includes maps and graphs on, 1/ Where the North is. 2/ Just how poor the North is. 3/ Why the North has so much potential. 4/ Why North England is more Irish and Scottish than English in some ways. Have fun, stay safe, and try not to be too rude in the replies.

Tom Forth
@tomforth.co.uk

Also graphs of, 5/ Just how centralised the UK is politically. 6/ Just how much of a drain on public finances North England now is.

3 reposts20 likes

Rodney Forster
@rodneyforster.bsky.social

an additional data plot to 5) could be to look at centralisation of the press. Compare circulation numbers for the great northern papers versus the nationals over time. There must have been a huge decline in quality northern journalistic output since the 50s, particularly since the 2000s/Reach era.

Glostermeteor 🔶
@glostermeteor.bsky.social

I think the problem with this analysis is the North isnt the poorest region of the UK. All the commentators obsess about the North but its actually relatively better off compared to the poorest areas in terms of income (Wales and the SW)

Tom Forth
@tomforth.co.uk

I think simplicity is hugely important. Put simply, the South West as a region has higher income by just about every measure than any region of North England, and thus any combination thereof, and it seems like you were mistaken about that. There's no point building complexity on top of a mistake.