Letters September 18: Put ambition aside in united fight for Yorkshire devolution

The forthcoming decision on the pattern of devolution for Yorkshire is crucial to the county’s future.

All those involved should base their arguments on what is best for the region, not – as sadly seems to be the case for some – on maintaining Labour control over the new bodies that will emerge, or even personal ambition to become the first directly-elected mayor of competing city regions.

We have listened to presentations of the competing proposals in Parliament. We were persuaded that the best outcome for Yorkshire is a broadly-based authority, which includes West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and East Yorkshire including Hull.

The position of South Yorkshire, with Sheffield’s economic impact spilling over into northern Derbyshire, is more open to argument.

We need the strongest counterweight to the dominance of London and the South-East – and to the political clout of already-devolved Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

That means a devolved authority that can speak for Yorkshire as a whole, rather than proposals that cut North Yorkshire in half and cut Hull off from western Yorkshire.