The North-South Divide

The North of England has been disproportionately affected by the
Coronavirus crisis. Having the highest amount of cases and deaths
in the country has led to strict lockdown restrictions for months
on end, understandably causing tensions in the North to grow.
However, last week another sharp blow was delivered by the
government to Andy Burnham and the people of Greater Manchester
through an insufficient amount of funding to support the area and
reverse the damage that Tier 3 will bring to the area.

It's worth remembering that Boris Johnson, in his first speech as
Prime Minister, made clear that he would not take the support
from the 'red wall' for granted and expressed his intent to
'level up' the North, but so far it's been quite the opposite,
with more attention and support being afforded to London and
parts of the North feeling dejected and forgotten.

The North-South divide is a very real thing which more than ever
represents deep inequality and growing disillusionment - with the
Covid crisis exposing the many gaps between the two sides of
England. 

This week I'm joined by three fellow Young Fabians: Donya
Jeyabalasingham, Amy Dwyer and Tom Laing for a chat about all of
these different factors behind the exacerbation of the
North-South Divide in recent months.

Read Donya's piece for the YF Blog here:
https://bit.ly/3jDoJqF

Speakers:
Donya Jeyabalasingham - Freelance Journalist
https://twitter.com/Donya_N_J
Amy Dwyer - Chair, University of Manchester Young Fabians and
Women's Officer, NW Young Fabians
https://twitter.com/AmyDwyer23
Tom Laing - Disability Officer, NW Young Fabians and Co-host
of The New Wave Podcast https://twitter.com/TomLaing14
Louie Marlow - Content Producer at Young Fabians
https://twitter.com/louiemarlow

This event was recorded on Thursday 29th October.

To all our listeners: we want you in our podcast, so if you’re
passionate about a topic just get in touch with us at
podcast@youngfabians.org.uk

Follow us on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/PodcastYF

https://twitter.com/PodcastYf

Donate to the Young Fabians https://bit.ly/326RrJY

The intro music is by ‘One in a Googolplex' and used under
Creative Commons. Find out more about them here:
https://oneinagoogolplex.bandcamp.com/