Background

For me, the Yorkshire identity is something quite unique. The county is far more than a place. It is the stuff of legend. It takes on the role of an idea or belief, something akin to the promised land. Anyone who messes with something like this does so at their peril.

(Our Founder)

A Yorkshire Garden

We believe that the current systems of government and public service delivery in the UK are far too centralized and far more complex than they need to be, resulting in both performance and cost deficiencies. We are concerned that in the past the Westminster government has been insufficiently focused on the needs of Yorkshire, choosing instead to spend undue time, effort and expense on the requirements of London and the south east of England. This had led to deficiencies in public investment in the Yorkshire region which in turn has resulted in less than acceptable standards of service in many areas, including transport, education, economic growth, culture and the arts and so on. Yorkshire has no regional governing body and local councils have neither the power nor the authority to address these imbalances.

Yorkshire is the three ridings and the city of York. The 1972 Local Government Act led to the dismemberment of Yorkshire, damaged our society and created an existential threat to the county that still exists today. This wanton vandalism was overseen by an inept and out of touch Westminster government. Where was the referendum on this?

An interesting point to note, however, is that, whilst the new local government administrative areas created by the 1972 Local Government Act no longer adhere to the county boundaries, the county itself was not affected by the Act and still exists as an intact entity.