kjw Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 A leading Tory sparked fury today after advising “jealous” Northerners to work in London. Ex-Cabinet Minister John Redwood said “good professionals” could boost their incomes by working two days a week there. He then claimed the rest of Britain is “jealous” of “the mighty capital”. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jealous-northerners-should-work-london-4555806 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Simply Can't Afford To Live There Unless You Have Family And or Inherited Wealth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 At the same time Osborne, with his Cheshire constituency, recognises that it's better to transfer the London wealth effects north by trying to establish the Leeds Manchester axis as a satellite tertiary economy to London Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LVM Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Simply Can't Afford To Live There Unless You Have Family And or Inherited Wealth I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corruption Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. My brother moved from the north, and his 60K a year job afforded him a room in someones house that cost best part of a grand a month. Did you manage to buy a nice little 3 bed semi to raise you children in on an average wage or are you just some rat who lives in a bedsit pissing his money up the wall and living week to week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. On what salary? For me to move to London and have a 4 bed Edwardian house I'm guessing I'll be lucky to find anything in the £500k-£600k bracket, I'd probably be looking at £1m. Jobwise I'd probably be needing to get a job paying £200k to afford that and a £750k+ mortgage. Clearly I can afford London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. Are you upstairs, or, downstairs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifes a game Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 On what salary? For me to move to London and have a 4 bed Edwardian house I'm guessing I'll be lucky to find anything in the £500k-£600k bracket, I'd probably be looking at £1m. Jobwise I'd probably be needing to get a job paying £200k to afford that and a £750k+ mortgage. Clearly I can afford London. You'd probably get it too, London is a bit fraud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corruption Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I never understand how Redwood gets such recognition, all he has ever done is wind people up with comments like this and failed dismally at becoming leader. He really is a loathsome individual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlylooking Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. Give it a couple of years and see how much money you have in your bank account. Then start thinking about settling down with kids in a decent school catchment area. Still affordable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 .....London is over rated...nice in parts but it is not all it is cracked up to be for most normal working people.....in fact, met more interesting, wise and intelligent people in places outside of London....and places that are better too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 John Redwood lives in Wokingham. Or he used to, before he ran off with another woman. I know, as I used to live there (nice but boring) and bumped into him one night while he was looking for homeless on the street. Not sure why. Maybe he likes firm bottomed Northern run-aways. I pointed him to Kings Cross. He's a kn0b. Think total d1ck idiot management consultant type. The median London wage is not that much higher than the national average. Like earlier posters, I would require a few multiples of my current salary to move there and have the same lifestyle as I have outside of London. London has Middlesbrough-like levels of benefit dependency. With Middlesbrough-like excuses. To the 30% of (poor) benefit dependents, you can add most of the rest of London population: bankers (rich) benefit dependents, civil service type - why oh why they all have to be based their. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I never understand how Redwood gets such recognition, all he has ever done is wind people up with comments like this and failed dismally at becoming leader. He really is a loathsome individual. He made his name putting himself forward to challenge John Major's leadership of his party. That was when the nasty element of the party was strong (boosted by years of having no opposition from Labour) and making it impossible to govern, leading to Major putting himself up for re-election and giving us the phrase "put up or shut up". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjw Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 "That was when the nasty element of the party was strong" Are you seriously suggesting it isn't now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 "That was when the nasty element of the party was strong" Are you seriously suggesting it isn't now? No, its not. Don't confuse the (very) slow roll back of that Idiot Brown's 'vote for me money' with being nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. My honest impression was that the cost of living is ludicrous. Certainly that's the impression shared by me and others. If that's the case then moving for work in London, if it doesn't work out, could leave you much worse off than if you hadn't, it's a risk. Even for a few days a week in London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 says Tory free market trougher living off the state teat. Much like hannan & Farage do. Same old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Jealous of what? Being able to thieve and get away with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill D'arblay Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I've been a Computer Infrastructure Specialist for 25 years and I can't get a job in London (or anywhere else for that matter - I just hack for fun and profit now). In my last gig at a posh shop HQ in London every member of the team lived with parents except the CIO (who incessantly banged on about tennis and skiing). I genuinely thought that the all the male members were gay and was shocked when it turned out that they were exceptionally camp (the only straight acting was the posh CIO guy). The only people I could banter with and reminded me of work colleagues past were the 20 something girls. What the hell has this country come to - has 'Trainspotting' come to pass and we are all just w@nkers now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. I am in the same position as you. No inheritance, no parental support, left home as soon as possible. Moved to London for work. But here, I pay double what I paid to rent a 2-bed flat in Scotland for a room in a shared house. My housemates are economic migrants from southern Europe. I have a decent job and am what used to be called a 'young professional' - though I am not quite so young any more. My coworkers either bought years ago, throw most of two salaries at housing, or have stretched themselves to buy interest-only. Unless you're an oligarch or landed gentry (or perhaps in receipt of housing benefit) then London is the epicentre of the housing crisis. The fact that all the job opportunites are in the capital is actually part of the problem. I know a lot of people who are constantly making plans to move North, because there's no future in paying astronomical rents until retirement. Especially people for whom the menopause is fast approaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 (edited) Mr Redwood's comment is a variant of Mr Tebbits "get on your bike" comment in the 80s. The 80s when there wasn't the extreme congestion in London and London house prices were still ridiculous but not as crazy as now. It's not really a comment that suggests they're going to do much rebalancing of the UK economy away from the financial sector and it also suggests that in terms of that rebalancing they've failed miserably since 2010 despite their "promises" before the general election. Just another glib promise reneged on and another failure of another self serving and incompetent UK government - there's been so many of them and they've been continuous over the years. Of course if you're a bonused banker or with private means living inside the congestion zone then it can be ok if you don't mind the extreme congestion. Edited November 3, 2014 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I've been a Computer Infrastructure Specialist for 25 years and I can't get a job in London (or anywhere else for that matter - I just hack for fun and profit now). In my last gig at a posh shop HQ in London every member of the team lived with parents except the CIO (who incessantly banged on about tennis and skiing). I genuinely thought that the all the male members were gay and was shocked when it turned out that they were exceptionally camp (the only straight acting was the posh CIO guy). The only people I could banter with and reminded me of work colleagues past were the 20 something girls. What the hell has this country come to - has 'Trainspotting' come to pass and we are all just w@nkers now? Mid and small sized it enterprises are increasingly opening up around strong universities such as Leeds or Sheffield simply because the cost of living is more responsible for attracting staff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disenfranchised Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I have been lurking for years but had to log in to comment on this. It's complete rubbish. I moved from Leeds to London for work and can report that there are tons of jobs in London at the moment. I have several friends who have done the same. I've never inherited a penny and have taken no money from parents since leaving home at 18. So can we please stop with this nonsense that London is for oligarchs and landed gentry only. Well thats one point of view. I work in London and stay there 3-5 nights a week, and I thoroughly disagree. If your current idea of the good life is house/flat sharing, miniscule bedsit for one, or tiny flat as a couple, great - I did all of that in my 20s but you shouldnt have to do it forever, and thats the reality in London. I don't want to live with anyone except my fiance I do want to eat with my family sat at a table in my home. I do want a small garden or other outside space. I do want a garage and a drive. I don't want to live in a ghetto These are not the demands of a 'property diva'. I buy all of these things 70 miles out of London for £725 a month. Detached. 3 spare bedrooms. 3 car driveway. I also rent a '5 day' room in zone 2 for £450 a month. I would rather just spend the £1175 on renting a property that meets my modest requirements in London... so what would that budget get me on the London rental market? The answer is clearly 'none of the above'. My weekday housemate lives in one room of her flat so she can rent the other one to help cover the mortgage she took on in 2005-6. Would be a nice enough property for one person. Fine wih me, its not my 'home' and I'm only there for a few hours a week that i don't sleep through, but would you by happy about living, eating, and sleeping out of one room in your early 40's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odysseus Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIwBvjoLyZc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 (edited) It would have been helpful if Mr Redwood had explained which "good professionals" he was referring to. There are plenty of good professionals who don't earn that much who would have a lot of difficulty with London living costs. By definition not everyone is going to be senior with a top wage etc. Maybe he was referring to financial sector professionals. As usual a politician making plenty of claims but without any relevant details to justify the claims. People fell for it in the 80s with Mr Tebbit et al.- are they going to fall for it again. Edited November 3, 2014 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.