A year ago we said “We have been talking about devolution for Yorkshire for some years but, whilst devolution of sorts has been on the agenda for a while, Yorkshire still has no focal point; no voice; and no representation. There is no one organisation or group that commands sufficient authority to lead the county. Without focus, structure, effective planning and adequate resources, any group promoting Yorkshire devolution or autonomy has little, if any, chance of success.”
Little appears to have changed. There may have been progress in certain quarters but, in general, things appear to be much as before. This has to change. Yorkshire needs to plan for devolution and success.
The messages and benefits around devolution now seem to be better defined and clearer but political motivation on its own will not carry the day. We need organisation and support services to make these policies a reality. We need to carry out extensive planning and build up the organisations and structures necessary to achieve our goals. There is nothing glamorous about this and the functions involved are nothing like as exciting as policy formulation, but they are absolutely as essential as other types of campaigning. Without these our chances of success and our resilience in times of adversity will be considerably challenged.
We need to build on what we already have and we need to be aware that these tasks are all ongoing and continuous. They do not end and there is no let up. We cannot afford to fail.
Its now 3 years since the One Yorkshire deal was submitted to the government and was rejected.
The government choose another plan to divide our region putting one Mayor up against the other with very little powers to make a difference and the promised levelling up funds mainly went to the South East. Yorkshire is relatively worse off now than in 2019.
Disappointed that we do not hear from the official One Yorkshire Commitee, that the Lib-Dems, Greens have very little to say on the matter and of course Keir Starmer breaking his 10 Pledges which included Regional Parliaments.
The Yorkshire Party is the only party with a plan for Yorkshire. Please lend them you vote.
Lack of leadership is a significant problem for the Yorkshire devolution campaign. Efforts have been made to solve this in the past but achieving a consensus is more than difficult.
The Greens and the LibDems are still active on the topic to some extent but, being national parties, they have other pressing issues with much wider appeal to contend with. It is true to say that the Yorkshire Party is the only party with Yorkshire devolution at the top of its agenda. I just wish the party was a lot more visible.