Questions have been raised as to whether infra-structure spending on the Northern Powerhouse will just prove a waste of money. The reasoning being there are too many ill educated people coming out of the schools in Manchester, Liverpool, etc. While London schools have turned the situation round in recent times, the North has not. Why is that? Are the people inherently thick (I think not - at least they are not in Liverpool, although I have my doubts about Mancunians)? Are the schools bad? Are the teachers bad? Are the parents bad? Do attitudes stink? Why has the North become such a basket case?

"Northern Powerhouse" is just a load of hype. There's no policy substance to it at all.

I've said it before, the Northern Powerhouse is just a distraction for the North while London's streets are paved with gold.

Part of the reason could be that the kids don't see the point of working hard at school as there aren't any jobs around anyway. This is an attitude that grew during Maggie's "reign" and still persists today in parts of many Northern cities that had their industries destroyed under the Tories in the 80's.

The point is there are jobs for the educated.

The point is there are jobs for the educated.

The education system in this country delivers exactly what is required of it: a very small group of ruling elites who receive a first-rate and well-rounded education, a larger group of people with aptitudes in technical disciplines with the overwhelming majority making up the third group all of whom are taught to, above all else, obey authority and refrain from independent thought. Members of the third category may or may not possess rudimentary skills. But this isn't a key requirement of the system.

As a former secondary school teacher I STRONGLY ADVISE all parents who feel capable to home-school their children. Kids who come out of home schooling are almost always light years ahead of the products of state-schooling. And I don't just mean academically. They are more mature, have a firmer grasp on the true nature of the world and can work independently and think for themselves.

Despite the fact that I think state-schooling retards children's learning rather than aiding it - you can't lay the blame exclusively at its feet.

Ultimately people are responsible for their own education. One would never guess this is true given the vast numbers of people who seem to think education STOPS immediately after school/college/university. These are the very same people who on the one hand boast about never having read a book whilst in the same breath moaning about foreigners taking their jobs.

I haven't the heart to point out that the latter might very well be a consequence of the former...

HS2 is a massive waste of time and money. All that spending and disruption just to shave 10 minutes off the train journey from Manchester to London.

I do think that HS3 (a mainline from Liverpool to Hull) is a good idea. If you want the north as an entity to grow it's better linking northern towns and cities together than linking a couple of cities (which are already linked) to London.

Despite the name, the idea behind HS2 it to improve capacity, not speed.