Yet another report has been published demonstrating the great divide between the North of England and the South in terms of prosperity.

This time it's accompanied by a league table which reveals that - considering factors such as production per head, business density, unemployment and number of IT industries - Yorkshire and Humberside sits at number 33, between Spain and Israel.

North-East England fares even worse, coming in at number 37 between Chile and Hungary.

On the other hand, London is at number three, the South-East as a whole at number nine and the UK on average at number 19.

So the hi-tech South-East is booming and in commercial terms sits up there with the world's best - the United States and Singapore. The old industrial heartlands of the North, though, are struggling in terms of wealth and business success.

It all helps to promote a relentlessly grim picture of decay and despair, doesn't it? Not at all the sort of image the North wants to get itself lumbered with as it strives to attract investment and industry. Who wants to set up a company among a load of losers?

But it has to be remembered that reports like this present only a part of the picture. It's undoubtedly true that the former industrial areas of the country are struggling to find new jobs to replace the old ones lost as Britain has become less and less a country that makes things. It's also true that unemployment is higher and average incomes are lower.

However, those things are only a part of the package of factors that make up the quality of life. The people of London and the South-East might well be earning more. They might be less likely to find themselves out of a job, long-term.

But they will also find themselves making long, costly journeys to and from work on roads or public transport even more congested than the ones that commuters in West Yorkshire have to put up with.

They will find that just about all their income goes on putting a roof over their head given the ludicrously-inflated house prices in their part of the world.

What they won't find is vast areas of open countryside within easy reach, housing costs which are still sufficiently manageable (though only just) so that someone on an average salary can get their foot on the housebuying ladder, and a lifestyle which offers a much better balance between work and play.

There's no disputing the fact that the people of the North are economically disadvantaged compared with their counterparts in the South.

However, given the additional stresses and strains and demands on their pockets that those living in the South have to endure, the real difference between the two in terms of overall quality of life probably isn't very great.

e-mail: mike.priestley@

bradford.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.