YP Letters: Assembly plan would give all of Yorkshire a voice

From: Ann Forsaith, Co-ordinator, Yorkshire and the Humber Green Party.
How can Yorkshire devolution be delivered most effectively?How can Yorkshire devolution be delivered most effectively?
How can Yorkshire devolution be delivered most effectively?

IN “MPs split along party lines on devolution deal” (The Yorkshire Post, September 29), those Conservatives who are prepared to go on the record on their objections highlight the risk of city dominance and the undue reliance on one individual in the proposal of a single-elected mayor.

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Both of those objections can be addressed by the devolution plan being backed by the Yorkshire and Humber Green Party for a Yorkshire Assembly, along the lines of the Welsh Assembly.

This would ensure that every community would have a voice in the devolved institution. With a proportional electoral system, such as the additional member system in the London Assembly, every voter could also be sure that their vote would count and their views be represented.

The exposure of the failure of James Wharton as “Northern Powerhouse Minister” to spend almost any time in the region for which he was supposed to be working for is just the most recent example of the way in which Westminster is too far away, too ill-informed, and too little-interested to have the level of power if has over us. We have the most centralised government in Europe – and that’s one of the key reasons why people have felt the need to “take back control”.