Wiltshire may be the eastern-most part of the South West but it very definitely is in the South West! I bet you would try and argue that Gloucestershire was in the Midlands too....
Yup. Being born and bred in Gloucestershire I do know enough to argue it is a border County. To the North and East of Gloucester is definitely Midlands bordering on Worcestershire and almost Warwickshire. Midland Red buses used to run from Birmingham via Stratford and Worcester as far south as Gloucester. East of the County on the Cotswolds bordering Warwickshire/Oxforshire I have no idea what they would class themselves as becoming more and more London commuters by M4, via Kemble station or Cotswold Line causing a huge unwelcomed rise in property prices. South of the Severn estuary definitely aligns with Wiltshire and what was Somerset, now South Gloucestershire, but regard themselves as West Country NOT Southwest. My part of Gloucestershire, northwest of the natural barrier of the Severn estuary is neither as we align with Wales and the Welsh Borders. More people commute to Chepstow, Newport and Cardiff than to Gloucester or Cheltenham and since opening of the Severn road bridge in 1966 to Bristol over the bridge or through Severn Tunnel by train.
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Your investment quotes are at best disingenuous and at worst downright deceptive (indeed neo-Gobbelsesque!) with their implication that all of the investment is being funded by the UK taxpayer which is complete bull as has been stated repeatedly on here.
"The full cost of the Northern line extension is expected to be up to £1bn, which is being funded entirely through contributions from the developments in the area that will benefit from the extension. An innovative funding package has been agreed between the Mayor of London and Government, which includes the creation of an Enterprise Zone from 2016 for a period of 25 years. The Greater London Authority will be putting forward a funding package shortly for the £1bn needed to deliver the extension." (source TfL)
"In April 2010, the Mayor introduced a levy of 2p on non-domestic properties with a rateable value of over £55,000 in London. This will help pay for Crossrail, a vital new east-west train link that will provide a major boost to London's economy.
The GLA is expected to contribute around £4.1bn of its agreed contribution to the £15.9 billion Crossrail project using income generated from a new business rates supplement." (source the GLA)
That's without trying too hard! Give me one similar example for the rest of the country... but in your bilge above you actually have the gall to moan at money being raised in London for specific purposes actually being used for those purposes - there's an appropriate Northern phrase "brass neck"!
I am increasingly in favour of Boris/London politician's aspirations ot have more control fo London's business rate and income tax take. Believe me if that happens London will do quite nicely thank you, I'm not so sure about the rest of the country though....
Oh, and I don't have time now but you taxpayer arguement needs a response involving basic statistics and some evidence of respective incomes... clue minimum/low wage zero hours contract types don't pay much income tax!
Growth rates... look at the baseline lol
What is all this silly southern lol crap. Are you a sheep in Wolfies clothing?
My quotes are not disingenuous, they are fact and didn't imply anything. It still involves taxpayers money. Just because they are part funded by business does not make it less of a fact. I notice you do not question Thameslink so £8billion must be wholly taxpayer funded. It is still giving London lots of shiny new carriages at £1.5billion that the North is not getting. We are grateful for more electrification though.
Battersea extension was still authorised and underwritten by the Government at the outset with taxpayers money for the planning stage. London is the last place that should be given unfair advantage of an Enterprise zone. These are for places struggling in the Regions. And you question whinging from the North with decisions like this.
£4billion towards £15billion for Crossrail2 is no more than the amount local authorities have to contribute towards large projects. North Yorkshire County Council is contributing £6m towards a £32m bypass. They have contributed £11m towards £27m improvements to the Harrogate-York line.
I am all for you going with Boris and asking for higher London business rates. I assume you are not in business with that attitude. This will just make the North more competitive.
We can't all live in London even if we wanted to. I was fortunate enough to be able to work in any city in the world after graduating from a six year university degree. I chose Leeds as I could live in rural Yorkshire. I would not want to live within 200 miles of London, but should not be penalised for it because Yorkshire is not London. I am penalised as my property wealth is a mere fraction of similar properties in London compared to when I bought it in 1972. We are talking £millions at to-days prices and all the fault of successive Governments allowing London to become out of control but you do not hear me whinge about that.
Railways are a different matter as it is a service industry and we should have the same quality of service as the Southeast. Even the Scots feel sorry for Northern England since the referendum. There is another Northern phrase.....selfish Southern greed.
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A massive lifestyle subsidy! What would that be? The lifestyle of living in Liverpool and not being able to afford to relocate? You make it sound like the countries economy was my choice and I have more than a tiny input to this. Oliver Twist like! Remember I work, I pay tax at the same rate as everyone else, I pay for you aswell!
Well done that man. You tell them how it is.
