There are occasions when you wonder if certain stories are written just to provoke us all?
This could be one of them…
A leading think tank has argued that many cities in northern England such as Liverpool, Sunderland and Bradford are "beyond revival" and residents should move south!
Policy Exchange said current regeneration policies were "failing" the people they were supposed to help and that a mass migration to London, Cambridge and Oxford would stop them becoming "trapped" in poorer areas.
Policy Exchange is one of the most influential right-of-centre think tanks and it has been credited with much of the fresh thinking behind the revival of the Conservative Party under David Cameron.
Their report said the 3 million affordable new homes planned by the government should be built in London, Oxford and Cambridge to help people to migrate south.
The authors concluded that coastal cities like Liverpool and Sunderland had "lost much of their raison d'etre" with the decline of shipping and had "little prospect of offering their residents the standard of living to which they aspire".
Download the Policy Exchange report.
The report said it was time to be "realistic about the ability of cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle to regenerate struggling nearby towns such as Liverpool, Bradford and Sunderland.
"No-one is suggesting that residents should be forced to move, but we do argue that they should be told the reality of the position: regeneration, in the sense of convergence, will not happen, because it is not possible," it concluded.
Restrictions on house-building in the south-east should be lifted to lower house prices and stop people on low incomes being "trapped" in less prosperous parts of the country, the authors said.
'Economic power-houses'
The report suggested that land earmarked for industrial use should be released for housing. The resulting price increase for industrial land would force some firms to relocate to cheaper areas, meaning more jobs for people in struggling towns and cities.
The university cities of Oxford and Cambridge were well placed to become the economic power-houses of the 21st Century, it argued, like the industrial north more than a century ago.
"We should consider expanding both dramatically, just as Liverpool and Manchester expanded in the 19th Century. Dynamic economies require dynamic economic geography."
Report findings rejected
But the findings were completed rejected by local authorities, the Government and the Conservative Party.
A spokesman for Communities and Local Government said:
“We totally disagree with the conclusions of this report. No Government has done more to turn around decades of neglect, and since 1997 cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle have benefited from thousands of new jobs, lower crime rates and better living standards thanks to our sustained commitment to regeneration, and investment in public services,”
“It’s alarming that this 'think tank’ is labelling our great cities as 'beyond revival’ and arguing that we should target less effort on them, when those areas that have received regeneration funding have shown the greatest improvements.”
Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool City Council, added:
“The past decade has seen unprecedented growth in Liverpool’s economy, which has surpassed many southern towns and cities. “
And remember Liverpool is the 2008 European Capital of Culture (along with Stavanger in Norway).
So, what do you think of the think tank report? Does it have any merit or is it a compete load of cobblers?
Why not let us know what you think in the comments below?