4. It's Grim Up North
There's a fact that we just can't run away from, in Westeros and in the UK: The North is poor. The Starks are branded as treacherous barbarians by the Lannisters to the commoners of King's Landing, The Night's Watch are openly mocked and ridiculed whenever they take word of their fears south, the money of Casterly Rock and the treasury is spent in the capital while the North are left to fend for themselves, all the while being forced to bend the knee to a ruler who does nothing for them€ any of this sound familiar? Yes, we may have some bustling city centres, some affluent suburbs and seemingly more Audi A6s than you can shake a stick at, but in terms ofour life expectancy, general earnings, house prices, government expenditure and our politics, we're screwed.We are fundamentally ignored by Westminster, particularly the North East, and we're also the unwilling guinea pigs for any risky political endeavour, such as 100% cuts to arts and culture and the fracking of our stunning coastline. Desolate and boarded up businesses and houses are commonplace in northern England and homelessness has been rising steadily for years. It's more of a rich/poor divide than a North/South one, but the simple fact of the matter is that the cause of the divide has always come from the South and, to keep their lifestyles, the rich of the South really don't care how much they sh*t on the northerners or their own, in Westeros as well as the UK.