2024
There are quite a few things happening this month as 2024 is a significant year for the Yorkshire devolution campaign. It is the 50th anniversary of the implementation of the 1972 Local Government Act which created a patchwork of local government administrative areas whilst the historic county of Yorkshire remained intact. This led some people living in the historic county to believe that they no longer lived in Yorkshire. This is, of course, nonsense but it is also worth remembering that Yorkshire has not operated as a single entity for many, many years.
Various events are at the planning state to mark the momentous changes of 1974 and the major opportunity that was missed to create a Yorkshire regional government. We will provide more news on these as the information becomes available.
2024 is also the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Yorkshire Party. We look to the Yorkshire Party to commemorate that occasion.
The People’s Constitution for Yorkshire
The People’s Constitution for Yorkshire has finally been published on Democratic Yorkshire’s new website.
We believe that this document is groundbreaking and could be very useful. It should be widely circulated. It raises many interesting points including the possibility of an independent commission whose function would be to conduct an in-depth analysis on how responsibilities could be best apportioned between different parts of government based on the principle of subsidiarity. Yes, it is not an actual constitution but as the document states “This is our first stab at producing a People’s Constitution for Yorkshire” so it was always meant to be a series of proposals, rather then the first draft of a definitive legal document.
This document will be discussed at the next Transforming Yorkshire meeting.
The Yorkshire Thing
The Yorkshire Thing is an informal group that will meet on a regular basisto discuss all things Yorkshire. At the moment it seems to be an extension of the Transforming Yorkshire meetings though it might evolve into something more over time. The absence of One Yorkshire Committee activity could drive this in the future.
Political Activity
The extent of the political campaigning that we should undertake always comes to the fore during an election year. For the time being we intend to focus our campaign on the recognition of Yorkshire as a regional entity in its own right; devolution on the basis of subsidiarity, including the establishment of a Yorkshire Parliament; and the adoption of a fair votes electoral system. This campaign will be media focused for the time being.