Opportunity Yorkshire: Why this Lancastrian politician is welcome in Leeds and might back Skipton to Colne rail link – The Yorkshire Post says

The Yorkshire Post was arguing, long before ‘levelling up’ became political parlance, that decision-making will be enhanced if key figures from the London Government are based in the regions.

High-speed rail between Leeds and Sheffield is key to region’s future – The Yorkshire Post says

And while this newspaper disagrees with the decision to downgrade high-speed rail in the £96bn Integrated Rail Plan, Mr Stephenson’s presence here in Yorkshire this week is a welcome one.

Not only does it enable him to meet business leaders face-to-face – these encounters can, invariably, be more productive than Zoom exchange and the like – but he will also gain a clearer understanding of the countless opportunities that currently exist here.

After all, Mr Stephenson, a proud Lancastrian, is having to begin his morning commute by driving from his Colne home to Skipton before catching the train into Leeds – just think of the spin-offs for the Dales, and surrounding rural areas, if the Colne-Skipton rail link was reinstated as previously indicated by Ministers?

Meanwhile the trip into Leeds, and the almost inevitable wait for a platform to become available, will, hopefully, show Mr Stephenson that there’s a huge opportunity to transform public transport if the city – a notorious rail bottleneck – becomes a high-speed rail focal point with the capacity to match this region’s ambitions and aspirations.

As such, it is hoped that this is the first of many extended Ministerial stop-offs in Yorkshire and the start of a new direction of political travel.

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