Tory think tank call an insult to York Outer - Liberal Democrats

11.29.38am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th Aug 2008

LIBERAL Democrats in York Outer have described a call by a Conservative-leaning think tank for people from towns and cities of the North to pack their bags and move to the South as appalling.

Policy Exchange, described as David Cameron's favourite think tank in the media, claimed many towns and cities in the North were failing and regeneration would not save them. They suggested people should move to the South East instead. Policy Exchange was set up by Michael Gove, now a senior Conservative MP.

"The idea that people should abandon the North and move to the already crowded South East, where house prices and living costs are sky high, is an insult to people living here," said Madeleine Kirk, York Outer Liberal Democrat parliamentary Spokesperson .

"I am staggered that a think tank so close to the Conservatives is making such a call. I am appalled that they are saying that large swathes of the North can simply be abandoned.

"What the Policy Exchange has done is to highlight the lack of understanding many Conservatives have of the North and to show that they are too weak here to be taken seriously."