No money for projects outside of London

200sols said:
Dont conflate the south with London.

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If we look just at capital spending which strips out salaries etc London is by far in the lead but the south is not, its pretty low down with many parts of the north ahead.

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Need to see overlapping bars of previous years, as they could show the north significantly lower. The devil is in the data ;).
 
Firegod said:
Is it just me or do we seem to still have a North / South divide when it comes to infrastructure projects?

The dualing of the A1 here up North, scraped. High speed rail, scraped. And Newcastle in particular, struggling to get final 6 million funding sign off for Tyne Bridge restoration. An iconic landmark.

Turn to London. We've got new talk about a third runway at Heathrow. Potentially costing billions. Millennium bridge refurbishment, signed off. But remember we apparently have a 22 billion black hole.

Why is money available for London but not the North. Just a few years ago money for the North was taken to fix pot holes in London but Labour led the backlash at the time. It seems like whoever governs, the North is ignored.

What are your thoughts on this? Might not be the North, but perhaps in your area, you have read about London trumping a project. Be interesting to hear.

It really needs to stop. Wealth should be spread evenly.
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It is a lot of the grass is greener but given the choice I would rather live in Newcastle than London. As you said the Tyne Bridge is beautiful as you come into the city.

Yes London might bring in the money but it is an ever increasing minority that can make it work.

Plenty of 3 bed detached houses for sale in Newcastle in the 250-300k region which is easily manageable in nice parts too. The same kind of thing in London in a place where you can feel safe is 1 million+. The salary needed to match quite a humble income in the North would exceed 6 figures easily.

M25 is gridlocked most days, M11, M1 and A1 is chocka most days due to some numpty having an accident, Dartford tunnel is 40 minute tailback the vast majority of the time. Everyone is walking on top of each other and visit anywhere just takes an age to get to. I drive around London and surround areas quite a lot and believe me a lot of that is falling apart too just like everywhere else in the UK. It isn't all Park Lane and Kensington!

In the world of internet the world is such a small place that living in London isn't really needed anymore. I have my friend networks, 8gb internet, detached house that I bought at 23 which is nearly finished. 6 minute commute to work and access to beautiful uncluttered countryside 1 minute from my house. To most I live in a poor part of the country but to me it is my home and I love it :)

My point is be happy with what you got because it is dog eat dog down there :).
 
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Rroff said:
I don't think it is just North more a London (and maybe a small number of other high density urban areas) vs the rest - down where I am in the South West the last few years money seems to have vanished not helped by the councils spanking what there is up the wall far too often on vanity projects or hopeless "rejuvenation" schemes, etc.

In fact it is starting to feel like living in a 3rd world country - services vanishing or increasingly less reliable, emergency services struggling, roads increasingly like the surface of the moon, improvement projects cancelled, etc. etc.
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The current fad in the City of Bath is “rewilding” which I interpret as not cutting the grass so as to save money (or, as you say, funnel it into pet projects) and consequently pavements in many streets (in the less affluent neighbourhoods especially) are full of weeds instead of those neat rectangular grass borders.

They’ve even closed down both council run golf courses including the par 3 pitch and putt Approach Course at the top of Victoria Park which was my first intro to the game and has always been extremely popular.

Outrageous.
 
well given london seems to be operating in the red and has some deprived areas i dont really think its getting much love outside of keeping it ticking over. a lot of its tourist industry is slashed and its not seen the commuter levels its struggling

from what ive seen there are major projects being shelved all over the uk in the last few years, this year especially.

if anything id honestly expect an increase in north investment as we are seeing areas like Newcastle grow as a service centre.
the ral infrastructure alone is telling :/
 
Dis86 said:
www.bbc.co.uk

Is Chancellor Rachel Reeves abandoning north-east England?

The chancellor announces projects in England's south as infrastructure in the North East crumbles.
www.bbc.co.uk

Seems even the media are questioning it.
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Gets better and better. :cry:

www.bbc.co.uk

Repairs to Newcastle's Redheugh Bridge could cost more than £1m

Redheugh Bridge has damaged concrete and a blocked drainage pipe, which need to be fixed.
www.bbc.co.uk

And also.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Swing Bridge goes five years without swinging as 2026 anniversary deadline looms

The Swing Bridge has not successfully rotated open since 2019 and a fresh campaign was launched last year to have the Victorian crossing repaired in time for its 150th anniversary
www.chroniclelive.co.uk www.chroniclelive.co.uk
 
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It could be a short lived labour term if it carries on like this, I can't imagine you'll have many happy labour voters in the north if they've been promised lots during elections and have very little actually delivered.

Labour can't keep playing the 20+ bn black hole they've inherited because if that was genuinely an issue they wouldn't be able to stump up loads of cash for projects in the south.
 
Semple said:
It could be a short lived labour term if it carries on like this, I can't imagine you'll have many happy labour voters in the north if they've been promised lots during elections and have very little actually delivered.

Labour can't keep playing the 20+ bn black hole they've inherited because if that was genuinely an issue they wouldn't be able to stump up loads of cash for projects in the south.
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tbh an independant audit of the finaces really need to be carrie out and publiclly avalable to review, not just this term but future as well
if there is a black hole we want to see it shrinking. hiding it doesnt make it go away.

regarding major projects, it generates jobs and money, the sort of thing you want in a recession or poor finance to keep people and companies going.
i do agree though there is plenty of ajot infrastrucute further north that could be done. Glasgow, NewCastle or Edinbrough expanded would be good hubs of commerse
 
Semple said:
It could be a short lived labour term if it carries on like this, I can't imagine you'll have many happy labour voters in the north if they've been promised lots during elections and have very little actually delivered.

Labour can't keep playing the 20+ bn black hole they've inherited because if that was genuinely an issue they wouldn't be able to stump up loads of cash for projects in the south.
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Most of the money will come from the private sector. It's not like this gov have suddenly found some spare cash.
 
Semple said:
It could be a short lived labour term if it carries on like this, I can't imagine you'll have many happy labour voters in the north if they've been promised lots during elections and have very little actually delivered.

Labour can't keep playing the 20+ bn black hole they've inherited because if that was genuinely an issue they wouldn't be able to stump up loads of cash for projects in the south.
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The claimed black hole included the pay rises they've given to the public service, it also included unfunded government projects. They've cancelled those projects that were in the north.
 
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