Why Wakefield MP and council should grow up – The Yorkshire Post says

Both Mr Khan, who won the seat for the Tories last December, and Labour’s Denise Jeffrey, the successor to long-time council leader Peter Box, are strong-willed characters with differing outlooks.

But they should also have the gravitas to be able to work with each other rather perpetuate a, frankly, tedious spat about the non-attendance of key officials at a meeting on Covid business support.

Rather than a calm discussion about priorities, Mr Khan has accused the council of “a culture of arrogance” while Ms Jeffrey ventured that the MP’s priority is “political posturing.

Yet, given how Wakefield has spent the past 100 days fighting the greatest threat to public health since the war, such squabbling diminishes the city and also sets an appalling civic example.

This, after all, is a time when voters expect their local, regional and national leaders to work together for the greater good rather than pursuing the type of partisan politics that has fuelled a breakdown in public trust.

The fact that the MP and council leader in question represent rival parties is neither here nor there – similar rivalries exist elsewhere and have proved to be no barrier to cordial and constructive relations for the benefit of all. As such, it is regrettable that our message to Wakefield’s leaders – grow up – is such a blunt one. But it has to be said on behalf of the 345,000 people who live within the council’s jurisdiction.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor