North South Divide
NORTH & SOUTH :
The Implications Of Regional Policy On A North–South Divide
‘North and South’ has endured as a term that covers many of the important economic, social, cultural and political differences within Britain.
We have moved away from the post-war consensus which recognised important regional differences of prosperity in Britain, many of them following North-South lines, and which endeavoured to do something about them. The downgrading of regional policy has been one of the less visible elements of the Thatcher revolution.
Instead of maintaining an active regional policy, the UK government approach has been to deny that North-South differences exist, or to argue that such differences will be ironed out by the operation of the free market.
Regional issue have been pushed down the political agenda at a time when North-South differences have, in most respects, become more pronounced.
This has been true of the restructuring of the British economy during the 1980’s, characterised by old, declining industries in the North and that of new expanding business in the South.
It has also been showing up in voting behaviour and is evident in many other respects such as sharp regional disparities in house prices, making it increasingly difficult for potential migrants from the North to share Southern prosperity.
Growing congestion in the South provides another reason for studying the impact of regional policy and the North-South divide.
In the earlier part of the 1980’s, economic misery was widely spread. It was more prevalent and deeply felt in the North, but it was certainly present in the South as well, and it was difficult to argue strongly for a policy which would have simply distributed high unemployment, for example, more evenly across the country.
The economic recovery after the 1980’s recession was one which the South was the main beneficiary, making it inevitable that sooner or later it would run up against constraints on growth, at a time when the North was still starved of economic activity.
Furthermore, there are strong reasons for believing that North-South differences, in both economics and politics, could widen over the next few years.
The further integration of the economies of the European Community and the opening of the Channel Tunnel will provide additional advantages for the South during the late 1990’s.
Politically, the concentration of Conservative support in the more prosperous South, with Labour’s only remaining strong holds in the old, industrial areas of Scotland, Wales and the industrial North of England, may become yet more marked, leaving these areas effectively disenfranchised.
It is, therefore, a reasonable contention that most North-South differences arise from economic factors.
