Manchester Evening News readers have reacted in anger after a damning report exposed an economic chasm between London and the north.
The shocking new report by the former head of the civil service, Lord Bob Kerslake, compared the financial divide to east and west Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The report found that decades of government bias towards the capital has created a 'huge gulf', which will take around 50 years to reverse.
Lord Kerslake called for a 'sea change' to redress the imbalance, in the same way investment was poured into Eastern Germany following reunification in the 1990s.
The report, for the independent UK 2070 Commission, said stark divides were apparent in everything from income levels to life expectancy.
Lord Kerslake suggested a new long-term 'plan for England' is now needed, as well as a £250bn renewal fund.
Reacting to an article on the report, posted on the M.E.N Facebook page, Garry Paul Campbell said it was high time the north was given a funding boost.
He warned that 'we've played second fiddle too long'.
In the comments, he posted: "Who's surprised?? Not me. Like the current pipedream the Northern Powerhouse, its inception was to pacify the voters in the north! Well not anymore! We've played second fiddle for too long."
Matthew West replied: "So the wall is...the Midlands eh. Who needs London anyway, Manchester is the capital of the North."
While Thomas Nolan commented: "Government cuts to northern towns borders on criminal to me, compared to counties in and around London."
Alexander Ben wrote: "Probably doesn’t help that all the focus is on down south, as well as the money. The north has been neglected for decades, in comparison to the south."
And Richard Linney commented: "Wilful negligence and/or incompetence on behalf the government affecting how long you live based on location does make me a wee bit unhappy, I must admit."
One social media user suggested another, hyperlocal economic divide exists in the region.
Commenting on Facebook, Jason Taylor wrote: "Never mind that North/South divide, we've got a huge one in Manchester too."
Commenting on a tweet by political editor Jennifer Williams about the report, Irwell Johnson posted: "I think there are two types of poverty at play.
"An individual poverty in London/SE (where you may be poor BUT the schools/transport/infrastructure/opportunities are good) and a collective poverty in the north (where you're poor/low wage, AND schools/opportunities etc are bad.)"
And Barnsley MP Dan Jarvis tweeted the article saying: "Great piece by @JenWilliamsMEN on major report outlining the "Stark regional divides...apparent in everything from life expectancy to income levels. @SirBobKerslake argues for a new £250bn ‘plan for England’ underpinned by proper devolution. I agree."
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Jayne Moxon warned of a risk of becoming too similar to the capital.
She wrote: "Yeh but, do we want to be like London? We could do with fairer investment for sure but as for the London way of going on, you can keep it."
