Hi, my name is Bec and I am a Southerner who lives in the NorthWest

I live in the North of England, but am a Southerner by birth – meaning I have, apparently, a side to choose. On Wednesday (I can’t believe it was only two days ago) a Government Thinktank – Policy Exchange -  released a report saying (link to pdf of report) that some Northern cities were ‘beyond revival’ and people should move South to stop them being trapped in ‘poor’ areas.  It was basically a bitching session about regeneration plans not going so well.

This, of course, being England, has once again kicked off the old ‘North vs South’ divide.  The lines are being drawn up and local news crews are trawling the streets looking for well… locals… to be indignant.  This, being North West England, means we have to put up with idiots dribbling on about cloth caps, Blackpool, Liverpool being the damned City of Culture (oh so very sick of this being mentioned at least twice in every news report), the Beatles, how all Southerners are unfriendly evil money grabbing toffs as opposed to the ‘give you the shirt off their back’ common man-iness of the North West (where?!), and how the NorthWest is the most beautiful area of the country.

I… am flumoxed. I have lived in both the North and South… people are just people for God’s sake. Things are the same whereever you go – everyone is suffering, everyone feels joy, everyone has crime, everyone has achievements and wonder… We all live in the same damned country so why, now I sound like a soft drink commercial, can’t we all just get along?

I like both ends of the country for different reasons.  Here it is cheap and slow and relaxed (sometimes a little too relaxed) and the accents aren’t awful… and the South is exciting and friendly and inviting and… Both ends have got their problems – but right now the biggest problem the NorthWest has (I can’t say about the NorthEast because… well… I don’t see their news) is the people who were born here and have never lived anywhere else thinking everywhere else is awful.

I’m making no sense.

Update: This should have been posted ages ago but the blog and my brain have been down on and off all day!  Sorry!