Thinktank says northerners should head south

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of people in northern England should move to the southeast because years of regeneration has failed to improve cities like Liverpool, Hull and Sunderland, a thinktank said on Wednesday.

The right-wing Policy Exchange, often described as Tory leader David Cameron's "favourite thinktank", said there was no chance of reviving many northern towns that thrived during the industrial era.

Instead of wasting more taxpayers' money, the government should help residents to move to more prosperous areas, like London, Oxford and Cambridge.

***Have your say on the idea here ***

One Liverpool MP called it "utter nonsense", while another in Leeds said it was "offensive" to write off whole towns.

The report's authors said they had expected the idea to come under fire, but insisted that radical change was needed to help people in declining cities.

"No doubt some people will claim that these proposals are unworkable, unreasonable and perhaps plain barmy," said co-author Tim Leunig, of the London School of Economics.

"But the issue is clear: current regeneration policies are failing the very people they are supposed to be helping and there is no evidence that the trend will be reversed without radical changes."