A really interesting (and good) study. You are completely correct when you say that there is a complete lack of ambition for the North, within the UK. In the early 1990s, I was a resident of Eindhoven. On a Sunday evening, I would get off a Dutch Railways intercity train. I would then walk down some stairs in to the bus station. In the bus station, I would see an entire row of buses waiting to take people from the rail station to the various parts of Eindhoven. Within minutes and with my 'strippenkaart', the bus would *whizz* me down the Aalsterweg to my stop at the Kortonjo building (Herman Gorterlaan), three minutes walk from my front door. So, I would be at my front door within minutes of getting off the train. God, how I miss my Saturday trips to Utrecht, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Liege and Koln. What mind-broadening and happy days.
Quite agree I lived in Eindhoven from 1983 to 2000 It was obvious that the Dutch spent the money they gained from the gas winning equally all over the country... In England the money gained from tax goes direct to London and THEY decide where it will be spent . It is unequally spent on the South. Thatcher in fact had a planned decline for certain cities like Liverpool. a disgraceful decision which was thankfully overturned by EU money and the intervention od the Duke of Westminster's company in re/building Liverpool one . Lancashire particularly suffers from a medieval law from the 1300,s that allows the King to take over 250million out of the county as his right He also took over 10 billion from people of the county over ten years those who died intestate Again a disgrace
The Netherlands is also a decentralized country. Various regions such as Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, North and South Netherlands compete with each other. Many head offices are not located in Amsterdam, but spread across the country. Instead of The Hague (political capital), many important government institutions are located in less strong economic regions. In South Limburg (South Netherlands) Tax authorities, In Groningen and Friesland (North Netherlands) Education, justice and energy, and so on.
Interesting idea but other than population not much else is comparable. Most obvious difference is the location in relation to the rest of Europe: one central, the other peripheral. The political system is also different: the North of England rarely gets governments it votes for. It’s not just the physical location of government but from a northern perspective, the entire country is governed in the interests of the South. Virtually the first thing the government did in 2010 was abolish the Regional Development Agencies. The North has a similar socioeconomic profile to the Celtic nations but receives far less public spending per head. The under investment goes back decades but has got worse under this government, despite all the BS about ‘leveling up’. The slogan is designed to conceal the truth.
@@MarloesPeeters You may not know about the Barnett formula. That is the annual calculation made to allocate public spending to the four nations. As England is the richest nation by far it gets the lowest allocation, Scotland the highest- about £2k a head greater than England. That would be ok if wealth was evenly distributed in England. The result is Northern England, with a similar socioeconomic profile to the Celtic nations gets far less public funding. The other important discrimination is the way central government funds to local government are allocated. For decades allocation was based on objective social need. This government has abolished that system with the effect that impoverished northern councils have been much harder hit by cuts than those in the south. Finally the way infrastructure projects are funded also discriminates against the north simply because they cannot demonstrate the same multiplier effects that you can in London especially- hence all the money for Crossrail etc. These sorts of issues are far below the radar in public discourse, in part obscured by the Levelling up rhetoric. Since George Osborne regeneration has been wound down in real terms, replaced with much smaller schemes more widely dispersed as a deliberate attempt at political marketing (more local good news stories) which is a thing (since Blair- Cameron used to refer to him as The Master).
@@lcolinwilson8347 The inaccuracy has been acknowledged and that should be the end of the matter - unless it is repeated, of course, but that seems highly unlikely.
Using 2019 figures is hardly an up-to-date comparison. Also a comparison between such geographically different areas will produce vastly figures. This is a pointless exercise like comparing chalk and cheese
@AndrewLord it didn't. That's why I had to catch 3 trains instead of one, and it took so long. At least I got a tour of the stations of the stations of Lancashire and Yorkshire 🤣
What a fascinating video, thank you :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
A really interesting (and good) study. You are completely correct when you say that there is a complete lack of ambition for the North, within the UK.
In the early 1990s, I was a resident of Eindhoven. On a Sunday evening, I would get off a Dutch Railways intercity train. I would then walk down some stairs in to the bus station. In the bus station, I would see an entire row of buses waiting to take people from the rail station to the various parts of Eindhoven. Within minutes and with my 'strippenkaart', the bus would *whizz* me down the Aalsterweg to my stop at the Kortonjo building (Herman Gorterlaan), three minutes walk from my front door. So, I would be at my front door within minutes of getting off the train.
God, how I miss my Saturday trips to Utrecht, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Liege and Koln. What mind-broadening and happy days.
Glad you have good memory of the Netherlands! I certainly miss that it is much easier to travel in the Netherlands, or in Europe for that matter
Quite agree I lived in Eindhoven from 1983 to 2000 It was obvious that the Dutch spent the money they gained from the gas winning equally all over the country... In England the money gained from tax goes direct to London and THEY decide where it will be spent . It is unequally spent on the South. Thatcher in fact had a planned decline for certain cities like Liverpool. a disgraceful decision which was thankfully overturned by EU money and the intervention od the Duke of Westminster's company in re/building Liverpool one . Lancashire particularly suffers from a medieval law from the 1300,s that allows the King to take over 250million out of the county as his right He also took over 10 billion from people of the county over ten years those who died intestate Again a disgrace
The Netherlands is also a decentralized country. Various regions such as Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, North and South Netherlands compete with each other. Many head offices are not located in Amsterdam, but spread across the country. Instead of The Hague (political capital), many important government institutions are located in less strong economic regions. In South Limburg (South Netherlands) Tax authorities, In Groningen and Friesland (North Netherlands) Education, justice and energy, and so on.
True also some very valid points to make (this point is actually mentioned in the blog post I am referring to but I did not discuss it)
North of the UK is Scotland. You mean North of England!
That's correct - I've adapted the thumbnail now (all numbers are from the North of England though just to clarify)
Interesting idea but other than population not much else is comparable. Most obvious difference is the location in relation to the rest of Europe: one central, the other peripheral. The political system is also different: the North of England rarely gets governments it votes for. It’s not just the physical location of government but from a northern perspective, the entire country is governed in the interests of the South. Virtually the first thing the government did in 2010 was abolish the Regional Development Agencies. The North has a similar socioeconomic profile to the Celtic nations but receives far less public spending per head. The under investment goes back decades but has got worse under this government, despite all the BS about ‘leveling up’. The slogan is designed to conceal the truth.
I have indeed not seen much come off the "leveling up" agenda - let's see what happens in the elections! Thanks for your thoughts
@@MarloesPeeters You may not know about the Barnett formula. That is the annual calculation made to allocate public spending to the four nations. As England is the richest nation by far it gets the lowest allocation, Scotland the highest- about £2k a head greater than England. That would be ok if wealth was evenly distributed in England. The result is Northern England, with a similar socioeconomic profile to the Celtic nations gets far less public funding. The other important discrimination is the way central government funds to local government are allocated. For decades allocation was based on objective social need. This government has abolished that system with the effect that impoverished northern councils have been much harder hit by cuts than those in the south. Finally the way infrastructure projects are funded also discriminates against the north simply because they cannot demonstrate the same multiplier effects that you can in London especially- hence all the money for Crossrail etc. These sorts of issues are far below the radar in public discourse, in part obscured by the Levelling up rhetoric. Since George Osborne regeneration has been wound down in real terms, replaced with much smaller schemes more widely dispersed as a deliberate attempt at political marketing (more local good news stories) which is a thing (since Blair- Cameron used to refer to him as The Master).
@@jontalbot1 Thank you - very insightful! No I had never heard of the Barnett formula
you keep saying north of uk while you talk about north of England.
Apologies for that, it should be north of England instead!
Yeah, careful you'll anger the Scots, we had to build a whole wall to keep them out!!! Jokes aside, this is a fascinating listen :)
@@MrLewis555 : using terms accurately is much easier then building a wall, and makes a better video.
@@lcolinwilson8347 The inaccuracy has been acknowledged and that should be the end of the matter - unless it is repeated, of course, but that seems highly unlikely.
Building in the Netherlands isn’t that easy because the majority of the ground you want to build on is former marshes composed of peat.
Interesting point! Certainly not something that I considered
Manchester is booming right now and so is Leeds
True, will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years (and after this election)
Using 2019 figures is hardly an up-to-date comparison.
Also a comparison between such geographically different areas will produce vastly figures.
This is a pointless exercise like comparing chalk and cheese
Ever tried or relied on Northern Rail ???
@@AndrewLord I have 3 days ago. 5 hours for a 2 hour journey 😭😭😭
@@old.not.too.grumpy.
Well ….. least it turned up
@AndrewLord it didn't. That's why I had to catch 3 trains instead of one, and it took so long. At least I got a tour of the stations of the stations of Lancashire and Yorkshire 🤣
Worse than TransPennine Express?