IAN WARREN, CO-FOUNDER, CENTRE FOR TOWNS
Oldham’s story is not unique. At the Centre For Towns, we see huge disparities between towns and cities, some of which are captured in the numbers shown. Oldham’s story is utterly different to a leafy Mancunian suburb like Altrincham just 10 miles away, but equally different to the city of Manchester’s own recent history. Similar gaps are repeated within regions, just as much as between them, across the length and breadth of the UK.
The truth is that, while the north-south divide is certainly important, it is a pretty crude way of looking at the British map of opportunity and deprivation.