YP Comment: Deadlock over Yorkshire devolution deal

The intervention of Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy to insist that a Yorkshire-wide deal will not be supported by the Government is unlikely to do anything to break a deadlock that is effectively holding the region back.

Business leaders have already expressed their frustration at the degree of political quarrelling surrounding the debate, urging all sides instead to engage in a constructive dialogue in order to maximise the benefits of devolution.

As matters stand, Yorkshire is making lamentably little progress whilst other regions, such as Greater Manchester and Merseyside, which are in reality rivals when it comes to attracting investment and creating prosperity, forge ahead with plans for elected mayors.

The Government’s attitude risks creating unnecessary rivalries between West, South, North and East Yorkshire, which is not a formula for arriving at a solution that benefits the entire region.

Though each of the four areas has its own needs and priorities, they are at heart united rather than divided.

Yorkshire is at its strongest when it speaks with a single voice, and is able to promote what is the country’s most distinctive and identifiable regional identity.

Such a unified voice is likely to command greater attention when it talks to the Government, or makes Yorkshire’s case to those considering investing 
here, whether from 
within Britain or from abroad, rather than a clamour of competing claims from the various constituent areas.

The time has come for the political wrangling to cease, both within Yorkshire and with the Government. All parties need to engage in talks to find a workable way forward that serves the best interests of the region as a whole.

May’s mission

THERESA May faces what is likely to be one of the most important discussions of her premiership when she meets Donald Trump on Friday.

It is heartening that the new United States President has chosen to make the Prime Minister the first world leader he meets, and this positive development holds out the prospect that the warm sentiments he has already expressed towards Britain will result in tangible benefits.

Yet Mrs May will need to proceed carefully as she seeks to lay the ground for a post-Brexit trade deal with one of the biggest economies in the world, a relationship that is crucial to Britain’s future outside the EU.

President Trump’s inaugural address on Friday laid great emphasis on his “America first” policy. He was explicit that the welfare of US companies and workers would be his absolute priority and hinted at protectionism that could see tariffs introduced.

The Prime Minister’s task in persuading him that a constructive and open trading relationship that benefits Britain will also be good for the US economy is not likely to be easy.

As a seasoned business negotiator, President Trump will be aware that he holds the strongest hand in his talks with Mrs May, because Britain needs the US more than it needs us.

Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial new president is an admirer of Britain going it alone outside the EU, and Mrs May flies across the Atlantic with a fair wind at her back in forging a new era in the special relationship.

Clear the air

POLLUTION is a killer, and tackling it is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

So the suggestion by Highways England of imposing a pollution-related speed limit on the M1 near Sheffield, one of the motorway’s busiest stretches, is worthy of serious consideration, even though there is a contradiction at its heart.

Even as concern about pollution has grown, the volumes of traffic on the M1 have been allowed to increase by Highways England via the introduction of the “smart motorway” scheme that has created an additional lane.

It remains to be seen whether limiting speed to cut pollution will work, or, as Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts asserts, is bound to fail. It is, however, worth trialling because rising pollution, with its serious threat to health, needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency, and the Government must give it the priority it deserves.