Off Topic Northern Powerhouse...

It's one of many reasons.



ESSEX GULL

 

You'll notice I wrote "a result" and not "the result"?

 

Fair enough. I don't have first hand experience of the steel industry, so can't claim to be an expert, but the Telegraph and the Guardian I read this morning and other media over the past few weeks indicated that the strong pound and high energy costs of production in the UK have resulted in most British exports of commodities such as steel dropping the past year. China hitting market has been the final straw.

My point was that markets grow and contract and the region and consecutive governments should have prepared for the future better. New Labour had 13 years in power to diversify the economy in the north and help prepare for downturns and 10 of those years were boom years in the economy.


ESSEX GYKK

 

And then we could rename HS3 to HS2.

 

Is that like "**** hitting fan"?

 

So 2017 it is then

 

The only reason the steel industry has existed there since 2008 is thanks to China for initiating a huge development and spending plan to buy the world out of recession. Now according to many, it's their fault for bringing a halt to this.. why, in the past 7 years, has the industry of the region not been diversified or educated to prepare for the end of the boom period? The UK governments and local councils bear responsibility for this, not China.

I see that China has been granted the project to build a nuclear power facility for the UK, which it will fund via ZIRP and QE... so why is the UK not using the same capital raising facility to build it itself? Answer is shocking governance of the UK economy over the past couple of decades.. but hey, it's easier to blame China and global market conditions.

ESSEX GULL

 

The Reagan-Thatcher financial deregulation

Because certain sections of the economy (and, obviously, Parliament) see more value in the handling of finance - and the finance of other countries - than in UK production?

Possibly (but we mustn't stray into 'politics'...)

 

Yes, it is difficult to debate matters such as this without mentioning politics.

It's hard to see that there will be any huge improvements of poor northern regions of England under the current government, because the focus just isn't there. It's really no surprise that so much of Scotland voted SNP - I'm sure if there was a northern-specific political party out there, they would gain the majority of the votes in the depressed areas.



ESSEX GULL

 

Yes - the last (New Labour) government didn't so much abandon the North. They provided welfare. And even Working Tax Credits, which are in the spotlight right now, don't actually improve wages, which might encourage productivity improvements.