Sheila Preston addresses property prices and pay levels, Roger Read makes a case for regional governance, Peter D Hogg suggests moving Eton College to Hartlepool, while Marilyn Hall hopes to see the end of grammar schools
The much-discussed issue of “levelling up” (Editorial, 6 October) leaves me feeling irritated, with the implication that those of us living in the south are all well-off. Members of my family, on a trip to the north of England recently, were amazed by how cheap property prices and rentals were there, compared with similar properties here. This sends up our living costs, and my grandchildren have little hope of getting on the property ladder.
With jobs where pay levels are similar nationwide (such as those in public service, social care or teaching), the effects are considerable. When I was a school governor, young teachers from, for example, Liverpool or Manchester, soon returned there because of their increase in living costs here. Also, many lower-paid workers in cities such as Brighton have higher travel expenses as they cannot afford to live near their workplaces.
Sheila Preston
Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex