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I'm With Stupid wrote:Where would be the evidence for this in the UK? If you look at voting patterns, you'll find that people in the North of England, Scotland and Wales typically vote for more socially progressive parties than large areas of London.

In the north of England there is a lot of anti-Tory sentiment. I know of communities where an individual not voting Labour would make them a social pariah. I'm not saying that every voter in the north votes along such entrenched lines, but that kind of tribalism is far from gone. Especially in areas around the mining communities.

I'm With Stupid wrote: I'd agree that London is more progressive than a lot of the areas immediately surrounding it, but the North of England generally? I can't see any reason to think that. I see evidence that cities are a bit more progressive than rural areas, but not that the capital city is in any way special (although it's probably true that the economic hub of any country has more foreign residents, and therefore enjoys more progressive attitudes towards foreigners).

I'd agree that the more urban areas tend to be more socially progressive than elsewhere, but I wouldn't say that the approach is consistent. I've got friends from South East London having some surprisingly shocking racist values, which I'd not experienced in a similar way in the north until I lived and worked around certain urban areas of deprivation, where attitudes were decidedly non-progressive on race.

I'd like to lay my hands on some concrete data in regards attitudes to the LGBT community that supported my perception that the north is less accepting than the south, but I'm struggling find anything.