Leeds peer calls for Government to 'overturn 1970s vandalism' and restore Yorkshire's Ridings territories

Baron Jonathan Caine, a former political aide and Northern Ireland expert who hails from Leeds, raised the issue in the House of Lords yesterday.

He said new Local Government Secretary Michael Gove could swiftly make himself popular in Yorkshire by overturning “the vandalism of the early 1970s” that saw the titles scrapped.

“My Lords, as one of the Members of this House who was born, bred and still resides in the West Riding of Yorkshire, I assure my noble friend that the Government and the new Secretary of State would be immensely popular across the whole of Yorkshire if they were finally to overturn the vandalism of the early 1970s and restore the territorial integrity and names of the ancient Ridings of God’s own county,” he said.

In response, Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, a Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, did not commit to any pursuit of the suggestion.

He said: “The Government proudly flew the Yorkshire flag outside our headquarters to mark Yorkshire Day. That beautiful flag was part of the display in Parliament Square that flew for a week to mark Historic County Flags Day on July 23.

"We recognise that people should take great pride in their local identities and we continue to do so, irrespective of the local administrative areas.”

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