AS I write, today is Easter Day. Like many my concern has been more with Mammon than with God.

I have been trying to persuade the good citizens of Leeds that what they need more than anything is a pack of sausages, or better still, two packs. My brother has been undertaking the same task, for the last few days, in York. I have to say that he has been enjoying a lot more success.

The regeneration of our city centres has been going on for a couple of decades now. It is a British trait that as soon as people achieve some commercial or business success, promotion in their jobs or whatever, they seem to want to move out of the centre of towns into the country.

Most of them get no further than the suburbs and there they settle. Some are prepared to commute considerable distances to work, with serious consequences for congestion and substantial environmental damage. Journeys are generated automatically if people live some distance from their workplace.

When most people worked in unpleasant factories or mills it was not surprising that they wanted to be away from the smell, dirt and noise which went with them. It was bad enough working there, never mind living nearby. When they could afford to move further away, they did.

Now that UK manufacturing has largely shut down or moved abroad the environment near places of work is much more pleasant. Clean air Acts have improved things dramatically.

More people live in city centres, but the urge to move out is still strong. Cities are not regarded as ideal for bringing up children.

This is not the pattern elsewhere. Living in cities is more popular and the more expensive flats and apartments are centrally located. They attract those who can afford them. The countryside is regarded as a place to visit and to have poorer relations.

The Continental Fair which has been taking place in Leeds is an attempt by the city centre management to bring people, and therefore money, into the centre. It has been only partially successful.

To start with there are not all that many residents despite some very smart flats in the centre. More importantly, I suspect that Easter is a time for taking a short break away, and not for staying near home. Day trips are taken to the country or to the recognised tourist destinations.

York gets tourists by the thousand and the centre is small and concentrated. Leeds gets tourists, but their attractions are more widely scattered.

The other problem, as usual in the UK, is the weather. We are having a sustained and unusual dry spell. Until Saturday it was unseasonably warm. Next year it could well be pouring down and may snow. People do not get into the habit of activities which depend on the weather, if the weather is as unreliable as ours normally is at Easter.

That is another way in which the UK is recognisably different from continental Europe. The variability of the weather is far more significant over here.

As time passes our everyday activities emphasise the differences between the UK and the rest of the EU. Complete failure to agree on what to do about Saddam Hussein it just the latest example.

There are serious problems in many European economies which EU rules hinder them from tackling. Apparently the Prime Minister wants us to become more European. He needs to sort out many cultural differences first.

Updated: 10:22 Tuesday, April 22, 2003