Just a brief note to say that, chatting with my parents online last night, they told me that something very similar to the ‘idea‘ I was waffling on about on Saturday had already been tried: The Northern Powerhouse was proposed/created over ten years ago, essentially by the Tories. It was designed to boost the economy in Northern England by improving rail links etc. I don’t know how successful it was, particularly regarding issues like public transport accessibility, but I must admit it sounds a tad more realistic than creating a giant Northern Metropolis.