The North is beyond hope say the Tories and should be abandoned.

It cannot be saved, it's beyond redemption; the only remedy is to effectively close it down and move everyone South, that's what Policy Exchange - a key Tory think-tank - are proclaiming in their latest report. Tells you all you need to know about today's Tories; they've not changed a whit since the Eighties: still full of malice, still vindictive.