treelover said:
Attica, I think you may be onto something there, a bit like the Pied Noirs in Algeria, but in reverse, but we are still an incredibly conservative country , with a small C though.
CHeers, yes I do think it would be worth some academics getting a large grant and doing some interesting research for a change
SOme twat from the Economic Research COuncil (Professor Smith, Derby Uni I believe) has just said the dole up North should be cut because it means us unemployed northerners are having a whale of a time on the money they are paying us. I would have no grief if his car was smashed up by some irate Derby locals working in solidarity for their northern bretheren...
Edit to add; "Just read that he was visiting Derby - dunno where he is based".
I repeat - what a twat.
Here's a link to his photo -
http://www.derby.ac.uk/press-office/news-archive/are-you-valued-where-you-live
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/...objectid=19313798&siteid=50081-name_page.html
'Cut North benefits'Jun 18 2007
By Chloe Griffiths, The Journal
A controversial report has declared people in the North should be paid lower benefits in a bid to end the region's "dole culture".
The study argues that people in the region should be paid less in unemployment benefits and receive a less generous minimum wage than their counterparts in the South.
The Economic Research Council's report even suggests the minimum wage for workers in the North-East should be slashed by 57p an hour to just £4.78.
The Think Tank - Britain's oldest examining economic issues - also claims substantial cuts should be made to the minimum wage in Yorkshire, Northern Ireland and Wales, while the rate in London should be increased.
It claims "unfair and intrusive" tax and benefits are fuelling a "dole culture" in the region.
But yesterday MPs and business leaders in the region poured scorn on the suggestion - insisting it would further penalise the North-East. Director of manufacturing organisation EEF Northern Alan Hall said: "I can see no reason why they should differentiate between the North and the South.
"A national minimum wage should not be used to create further divides. I think the region has come a long way in the last 15 to 20 years and it doesn't have the same level of unemployment it once did. Generally people are between jobs and to give less benefits would only penalise them when they need help."
The sentiments were echoed by Newcastle East and Wallsend MP Nick Brown.
He said: "It would only exacerbate any differences in working pay between the North and the South. The challenge is to get the economy of the North more like the economy of the UK in general."
He added: "Making people who are poor poorer is not the answer. The minimum wage is not there to set different standards, it is supposed to be a safety net."
Using a raft of official labour market and price data, the study says maintaining a standard level of unemployment benefits is encouraging people in the region not to work, while penalising more productive southerners, who have to suffer higher living costs and house prices.
Prof David Smith from the University of Derby, who produced the report, argues it removes the incentive to work in parts of the country where wages are lower.
Prof Smith said: "If you are in London benefits are a very poor substitute for work.
"If you are in the North-East, benefits are a very good substitute for work - so you tend to get far more people on benefits up there."
He went on to brand the system "unfair". He added: "Britain's tax and benefits system has got more unfair over the past 10 years. The minimum wage for Londoners is effectively a joke - laughably low."