NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

In the United Kingdom the term 'North-South divide' refers to an economic and cultural divide between the relatively wealthy South East of England and the less affluent industrial areas of Scotland, Wales, Northern England and the Midlands of England.

Contents
The Border
Existence
Language and dialect
Explanation
Cultural dimensions
Closing the Gap
North-South divide in Wales
See also
Footnotes

The Border


Several different theories exist as to where the border lies. A popular notional boundary is a line between the mouth of The Wash and the Bristol Channel, known as the Severn-Wash divide[1] , this boundary fits with economic thought of the 20th century which divided Britain into "inner" and "outer" regions according to economic prosperity. Although sometimes the North is referred to as anywhere north of the Watford Gap (a term particularly used by people from London and surrounding areas)[2], one way of placing the border between North and South would be to approximate it to the River Trent, making locations such as Stoke-on-Trent and Nottingham mark the geographical divide between North and South (although causing a problem for the classification of these locations).
A definite problem in defining the boundary between the North and South is the tendency of those living in the far South to include too much of the country in their definition of the North, while those from the far North invariably include too much of the country in their definition of the South. In particular there is much confusion over the status of central parts of England, for example a county such as Derbyshire may be considered Northern by a Londoner, while someone from Newcastle Upon Tyne may consider it Southern.
Thus people residing in central England, ie, the area between the Worcester-Banbury-Northampton latitute in the south Midlands and the Stoke-Derby-Nottingham latitude in the north Midlands, would consider themselves neither 'Northerners' or 'Southerners', but Midlanders. Cambridge, although part of East Anglia, is often consider by many to be "The South" perhaps oweing to its famous elite university and its rivalry with Oxford which is located much further south. The city is infact on the same latitude as Midlands cities such as Worcester, Warwick and Northampton.
The North/south divide can also be defined in terms of social rather than geographical, with the Industrialised working class regions (including the Black Country and the South Wales Valleys) as the North, while London, the Home Counties and other regions along with the West Country as South. However, some arguments about the North-South divide leave the south-west of England generally out of the debate.
Whatever the divider, the following areas are always considered 'South':

Greater London

South East England

★ much of East Anglia

★ The M4 Corridor
Whilst the following are always considered part of the North :

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Northern England

North Wales

Existence


The existence of the north-south divide is often contested. Some sources claim that not only does it exist, but that it is expanding. For example, a 'Cambridge Econometrics' report of March 2006 found that economic growth above the UK average was occurring only in the South and South East of England, whilst Scotland and North East England showed the slowest growth.[3]
A similar report in 2001 found that North East England, North West England, Wales and Scotland had poorer health levels than South and South East England.[4] The same data has been interpreted otherwise to indicate only a very small difference.[5]
Indeed, results are highly dependent on the categories chosen for evaluation. As a generalisation, the following tend to indicate that there is some sort of north-south divide:

★ Health conditions, which are generally seen as being worse in the north.[6] [7]

★ House prices, which are higher in the south, particularly the south-east.[8]

★ Earnings, which are higher in the south and east.[9]

★ Government expenditure, which is sometimes argued to favour the north,[10] and sometimes the south.2

★ Political influence.[11]
However, when factors such as the cost of living1 or urban poverty are included,[12][13] the divisions are sometimes less clear. Furthermore, some areas of the north - such as the county of Cheshire, the town of Harrogate or the city of Aberdeen - show high levels of prosperity, whilst areas such as the Isle of Thanet in Kent have struggled with the same industrial decline as the north.
This has led some commentators to suggest that other divisions are more important, such as class[14] or ethnicity might be more important.[15]
Following on from the 2007 local elections, some newspapers claimed that the North-South divide in politics was reemerging, with the North being generally supportive of Labour and the South being generally supportive of the Conservatives (see The Independent, front page, 5th May 2007; The Guardian, page 32, 10th May 2007). During the 1980s, Labour councils in the North were often openly dismissive of any orders from the Thatcher government. Examples include Liverpool under Militant Tendency and Sheffield under David Blunkett. As of May 2007, the Conservatives have no seats in the councils of Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle; before the election, they were also unrepresented in York, which is more of a "typical Tory" city. However, this divide is made problematic by the fact that most of inner London is Labour-voting, and some rural areas of Yorkshire are quite fiercely Conservative. A more established divide is that urban areas tend to vote Labour and rural areas tend to vote Conservative; as the North has more urban areas than the South, it has more Labour councils. The London Boroughs of Newham and Barking & Dagenham join the South Yorkshire borough of Rotherham as the country's safest Labour councils.

Language and dialect


A prominent example of the divide, which is particularly referenced amongst university students, is the difference in speech between the north and south of the country. Although younger generations are less likely to use speech that is specific to a particular town, there is still a clear difference between north and south; young Northerners are more resistant to sounding as if they are Southern than sounding as if they are from a different Northern town[16].
The division is sometimes used for comedy, but has its serious side as well. Anyone from the north of England (or, indeed, the south-west) is expected to reject their local dialects if they want to have a successful career. The London media and the large businesses that operate from London often see Northern accents as "incorrect" manners of talking or even as an indicator of low intelligence. This perception does not extend to Scottish accents, and it is not generally expected that a Scot should attempt to speak Standard English to succeed in a career. In politics, there are many high-profile figures who speak with Scottish accents whilst those with accents from the North of England are often ridiculed. John Prescott is an example of the latter phenomenon; Ken Livingstone (a Londoner) suggested that the press's unsympathetic treatment of Prescott was partly due to the fact that he "speak[s] like ordinary people"[17].

Explanation


Industrial decline in a post-Fordist world is most usually given as an explanation for the North-South divide,[4] as raw materials such as coal and iron ore could be found in these areas.[19] This led to comparatively high wealth; Shaw, near Oldham, reportedly had the highest concentration of millionaires in the country at the time.[20] It also led to over reliance on a few key industries and, as heavy industry began to leave the UK for developing countries under the 'New international division of Labour' [21], these areas declined rapidly. Events like the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) polarised public opinion and led to an increase in the divide. Although the three pits in Kent were solidly behind the strike, their remoteness from the other coalfields meant that it was mostly spared from violent clashes. During the dispute, it was decided that local police would be too sympathetic to the miners and policemen from southern counties other than Kent were drafted in to police the dispute, often being flown in by private aeroplanes. Accusations from the miners that the police were heavy handed or showed a demeaning attitude towards the North spread to create an atmosphere of resentment.

Cultural dimensions


There is also a perceived cultural divide between the north and the south. The ''It's Grim Up North'' BBC television series and subsequent book attempted to tease out some of these divisions.[22] Those in the north complained of having fewer cultural opportunities, such as theatre and museums; the book also provided a stereotypical view of southern life as faceless and bland.22
Alcohol and fast food consumption are higher in the North, with the UK's 14 'fattest cities' to the north or west of the dividing lines mentioned above.[23]
Moreover, in terms of English identity, the North of England was the home territory of the Angles, whilst the South and South East was Saxon territory, which could also account, culturally, for differences in both parts of England. Both groups descending from Nordic tribes, of course, but the Angles being more Scandanavian in their make-up than the more Germanic Saxons. In a recent Channel 4 programme, many DNA tests were taken from across the many regions of the British Isles. Of these regions, the North of England (not including Cumbria) showed genetic evidence of the native Celtic populations having been driven out and replaced almost entirely by Angles. Southern England showed genetic evidence of the Celts having been driven out by the invading Saxons.
Many Midlands towns and cities appear, at least historically, to have more in common with their northern counterparts than with those in the south. This is mainly because they have a history of concentrated industrialisation and post-industrial economic depression (especially in Birmingham, Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent), plus the dry ironic humour which is borne out of this, rather than the nonindustrialised 'service centre' and 'county' towns and cities of southern England, which are perceived to be singularly dominated by London (where the purpose of those towns was essentially to service the capital). The 2004 film Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, starring Ricky Tomlinson, was made very-much in the character of straight-talking and dry humoured northern comedies.
Another common observation regarding the North - South divide is the perception of group personality. It is often suggested that people are much friendlier, more open about themselves, more community minded, and more willing to express their emotions in the North, while Southerners, and more specifically inhabitants of London and the South East, are stereotypically portrayed as cool, aloof, reserved, devoid of emotion, preoccupied with privacy, and not terribly friendly. One often is reminded how in the North people take pride in knowing all the neighbours up and down their block, while Southerners will boast about not knowing who lives next door. Again, these are sweeping generalisations, but stereotypes such as these are prevalent in the British psyche.

Closing the Gap


Northern post-industrial cities are now beginning to see a renaissance, particular examples are Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Sheffield. A major new masterplan by British architect Will Alsop has been adopted for the regeneration of Barnsley. Some of Britain’s service industries and banks are relocating to northern cities like Leeds.
It should also be noted that poverty is widespread in Southern England due to the high cost of housing yet rising unemployment and low-waged ''contingent jobs''. These examples can be found in such places as ''Hastings'', ''Eastbourne'', ''Dover'' and the East End of London.

North-South divide in Wales


Wales is also sometimes talked about as having a North-South divide. The more urbanised south, containing cities such as Cardiff, Newport and Swansea is considered as the richer area, whereas the more mountainous North is seen as poorer. Cardiff and Newport in particular, are undergoing an economic boom.[24]
The far south east is a continuation of the M4 corridor and contributes most to the economy in Wales, with a high concentration of high-tech industries. This area usually includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport, as well as the more rural areas of Monmouthshire, Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It has excellent transport links with properous London and southern England. The area only covers a small percentage of the total area of Wales but is home to a large proportion of the population. Swansea and Neath Port Talbot are also sometimes considered to be part of this more prosperous area along the M4 corridor, but the valleys are usually not because they continue to suffer from some of the highest rates of poverty in the UK.
The North of Wales consists of: Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey. There is an east west divide in the North where the West is much more culturally Welsh, with a high percentage of Welsh speakers, but due to its geography, there is little employment, making the area poor in comparison to the East. Wrexham and Flintshire together have the same GDP as Cardiff, however, this is based on its industrial and manufacturing base. However, they have very little cultural strength in comparison to the southern areas. Historical reasons for this can be seen through the location of Offa's Dyke. Both Flintshire and parts of Wrexham are on the English side. This area is much less mountainous, and leads to the Cheshire and North Shropshire plains.
The large, central areas of Wales (Powys and Ceredigion) are ambiguous in terms of being North or South. These areas are fairly prosperous but sparsely populated so many people living here travel into the surrounding areas for employment. Equally, there would be ambiguity over Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. While very much in the southern half of the country, they are less urbanised than elsewhere in the south.
Furthermore, there is also a small-scale north-south divide in Pembrokeshire; the south, known as 'Little England beyond Wales', is more Anglicised and wealthy than the rest of the county, creating a microcosm of the overall Welsh division.
The 1984-5 miners' strike also divided Wales. South Wales was strongly behind the strike whilst only around a third of the workforce in North Wales ever went on strike. South Wales miners were often displeased with the lack of solidarity in North Wales.

See also



North-South divide

Footnotes



1. North just as prosperous as the south, survey finds Martin Wainwright
2. The Gulag beyond the Watford Gap Sean Corrigan
3. The North-South Divide Widened in the Last Economic Cycle
4.
5. North-south divide in social inequalities in Great Britain J Martin Bland
6. Wide life expectancy gap between rich and poor John Carvel
7. Cancer atlas reveals north-south divide James Meikle
8. UK House Prices
9. North-south, east-west wealth divides in survey John Carvel
10. South gets the cream
11. The United Kingdom of London Larry Elliott
12. London revealed as Britain's worst employment blackspot Ashley Seager
13. Rise of the new north has its price Anushka Asthana
14. Britain's class divide starts even before nursery school Kamal Ahmed
15. Making a difference: Tackling poverty - a progress report
16. http://archive.cravenherald.co.uk/2004/4/5/101548.html
17. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,1785526,00.html
18.
19. Population growth in Victorian Manchester: Work, Health, Housing and Working People in the City of Manchester
20. Shaw and Royton area plan
21. The Disintegration of the International Division of Labour Ludwig von Mises
22. It's (Not) Grim Up North, , Judith, Holder, BBC Books, , ISBN 0-563-52281-X
23. Bradford named UK's fattest city
24. Top 20 UK Boom Towns



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