Thousands sign petition calling for north of England to be part of Scotland
Lovely story this. I suspect it wont get any significant traction but such a combo would have a far bigger rural agenda than the current arrangements!
More than 12,000 people have signed a petition demanding the north of England break away from the “London-centric south” and join a new Scotland.
The petition says the northern English cities “feel far greater affinity with their Scottish counterparts such as Glasgow and Edinburgh than with the ideologies of the London-centric south” and demands secession from the UK.
Signatures to the Change.org petition were rising rapidly on Thursday before a visit to Manchester by George Osborne, the chancellor, and the only MP in the new Conservative cabinet with a northern English constituency.
Osborne, MP for Tatton in Cheshire, is expected to set out his plans to offer northern cities more powers if they accept elected mayors as part of his “northern powerhouse” vision. Earlier this week the prime minister appointed the Stockton South MP, James Wharton, to be minister for the “northern powerhouse”, which is a non-cabinet role.
The petition suggests the map of the UK be redrawn, extending Scotland’s southern borders along a line that runs between the mouth of the Humber and the Dee, which flows east from Wales via Chester and discharges to the sea between Wales and the Wirral peninsula in England.