A divided society-what can be done?

90 minutes to get freight from Liverpool to Hull does not look like HS2 is going to improve things for the north.
Grayling has kindly cancelled the Northern powerhouse improvements. So HS2 is obviously much more important.

I read last week that some of the lines in the north are the original Victorian track!

Yes Jalima here in the North East we do have a very impressive NHS !

Welcome to The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK.
We offer a wider range of specialist services than any other group of hospitals outside London.
You can find out about us on our website.
You can also see our full range of services and treatments, but some of our main services include:
the Emergency Department at the (RVI)
one of the UK’s largest Maternity Units,
the Great North Children's Hospital
the Northern Centre for Cancer Care
our Cardiothoracic Services based at the Freeman Hospital
the UK’s very first Institute of Transplantation
We’re much more than a provider of local care. We’re recognised nationally as a centre of healthcare excellence, with more than 30% of our patients coming to us from outside the region to take advantage of our expertise. Some patients come from as far afield as the USA and the Middle East.
Quality matters
Newcastle Hospitals has a long-standing reputation for high quality clinical care, and our staff’s commitment to excellence is reflected in our consistent performance at the highest level.
You can find out more about our performance, and we are proud to be the first teaching and tertiary (specialist) referral Trust to be rated as 'Outstanding' by the Clinical Quality Commission (CQC).

....and meanwhile we still have single carriageways on the A1 taking us from Newcastle to Edinburgh.

labourlist.org/2017/08/manuel-cortes-the-enemy-is-the-elite-boss-class-not-the-migrant-worker-we-must-not-be-afraid-to-say-this-loud-and-clear/

This is what divides society.

But it's one country Jalima, that is so sad , we are all use to England v Scotland . England v Wales. England v Ireland , and not talking rugby ?, the north seem bitter towards the south and the south uncaring about the north.

I know, and these reports are very useful and should be a guide to what could/should be done but instead seem to set one group against another - the Intergenerational Foundation is one such body which seems to do this on a regular basis.

the north seem bitter towards the south and the south uncaring about the north

I guess we are bitter Anniebach when all we hear is more and more Southern investment and we just fall along the wayside as though we don't matter. I still fail to see why governments can't force/encourage businesses out of London. Perhaps they prefer it the way it is... divided.

I feel more in touch with my Scottish neighbours than I do with the South of England. except when it comes to football

it's what Wales has had to take for centuries Gilly

Jalima, I speak as an outsider and I have noticed the change , so sad

50th anniversary of Crisis. I bet when they set themselves up, they didn't expect these statistics 50 years on.

www.24housing.co.uk/news/charity-launches-campaign-to-end-homelessness/

youtu.be/SLeW04f5ha4

A video by Chris Williamson about neoliberalism.

The increase of young people who are homeless over fifty years can be explained , fifty years ago young people were far more reluctant to leave their family home and fewer parents had children hooked on drugs so no reason to throw their addict son/daughter out.

There was an increase in single mothers given council houses, and the sale of council houses added to the problem, plus we have to accept the increase in immigrants

Can't see anything about young people. It's mostly about families.

There are many Young people sleeping rough , are children with parents allowed to sleep on the streets in your area Jen ?

Sounds a good idea, actually charging 1% of the value of the property for every six months it is left empty. In Scotland empty properties are charged DOUBLE council tax .You get a short period CT free if you're renovating and it has no kitchen or bathroom.It 's supposed to encourage people to get their houses on the market and sold asap.The pproperty market is fast moving here with houses selling within days and prices are rising

In England and Wales a council can charge 50% extra council tax if the property has been empty for two years, it's up the each council

www.theweek.co.uk/87707/income-gap-between-rich-and-poor-almost-doubled-between-2000-and-2012

People cannot be stopped from earning higher salaries than others or for making money legally , there has alway been rich and poor, always will be , sadly

We can use tax to reduce the gap, though.
Almost doubled in 12 years? That can't be right.

There has been a North/South divide for as long as I can remember, it certainly didn't start in the 1980's.

The old saying of 'it's grim up North' or Softy Southerners'
Were around when I was a child.

All very silly IMHO

There was never as much money washing around in the North as in the South, and there was a more ( dare I say it)
Scottish approach in the lifestyle stakes in the North, which is why lives are predominently shorter there.

It isn't fair but people do not want to pay more tax and even though the number of benefit cheats is not high as tax cheats the ordinary tax payer knows their higher taxes will not be for the tax dodges but the benefit chests.

I do wonder Jen if you spend time with the working man, not those in jobs where qualifications are needed, farm workers, building labourers, shelf stackers etc, and I am not being, unkind . You want utopia and we are not going to have it. You said some time ago - what's wrong with chasing rainbows .

Annie, you said earlier "there has alway been rich and poor, always will be , sadly" - sounds very defeatist to me (just how the govt would like you to feel!)

I ask your question back to you from your last post: what is wrong with chasing rainbows?

Nothing wrong with chasing rainbows if you accept you will never catch one , I have tried

I am not a defeatist, I am a realist