Rice that's such an interesting question about whether the variety of English accents have softened.
I can only speak locally about Merseyside (Liverpool and Wirral).
I grew up on the Wirral and so have a Wirral accent rather than a scouse accent as such. But I suspect my accent has developed more into a scouse accent the past 20 years or so I have lived in the city.
But your question is about whether accents have become less strong.
An interesting perspective is to listen to the Beatles speak in interviews from those times. They grew up in the south of the city where I live and where the accent these days is softer than in the northern reaches of the city. But more specifically, their accents are quite different than what you hear in modern-day Liverpool.
So actually, I think the scouse accent has got thicker over the last 60 years rather than softened.
Just my observations.
