YP Comment: Importance of Humber ports

AS Britain and America look to put in place a trans-Atlantic trade deal to coincide with the UK's exit from the EU, Britain can't afford to totally turn its back on Europe as a protectionist United States pulls down the shutters.

By The Newsroom

Published 30th Jan 2017, 10:39 BST

Updated 30th Jan 2017, 10:41 BST

Yorkshire and the UK’s largest cities export far more goods to the EU than they do to America and China, a point which Brexit-supporting Cabinet Ministers overlook at their peril as they prepare to trigger Article 50.

Today’s research by the Centre for Cities think-tank is a wake-up call in more ways than one. What if business executives can’t travel to the US if their family ancestry does not meet President Donald Trump’s strict new entry criteria?

There are other factors, too. Closer to home, this critique is another reminder, if one was needed, about the intrinsic importance of Hull’s docks, and other ports along the Humber estuary, to the future economic prosperity of the North.

As such, future decisions about access to these ports are not just a matter for Hull. They’re a matter for every city in this region, a point worth noting as pressure grows on political and business leaders to end Yorkshire’s devolution deadlock.