Well it doesn't sound like a debate sometimes more like football rivalry.
I agree its all about economics the area creates a lot of wealth which is distributed outwards but lets get out of this London & other regions.
London is a region too.The SE is full up; there is a lack of housing, people genuinely struggle, businesses as a whole seriously need to think about relocating to the rest of UK but the powers that be will expand LHR further, its where they want to be despite the long arrival stacks and long departure taxying. We do OK in this part of the world but we have our own agenda, good luck to LHR & all airports wherever they are but my focus is MAN.