MPs urge Ministers to adopt a fairer deal for region

Hilary Benn, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and MP for Leeds Central, called for a debate on the North-South divide in the wake of our revelations about the jobs dividing scarring the economic recovery.

And Julian Smith, Tory MP for Skipton and Ripon, demanded a debate on tourism funding amid anger that the Scottish Government will pour tens of millions of pounds into attracting visitors north of the border next year while Yorkshire’s own agency faces being starved of public funding.

Both men spoke out in the House of Commons yesterday days after the Yorkshire Post launched the Fair Deal for Yorkshire campaign which has highlighted some of the problems holding back the region and hampering the Government’s desire to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on London and the South East.

As part of our coverage, we have revealed fears that extra powers awarded to London will allow it to race ahead again - with employment levels already soaring in stark contrast to this region – while £1,500 more of public money is spent on every Scot than on people in Yorkshire because of a funding system widely considered to be unfair but which the Government has refused to tackle in this parliament.

Speaking in Business Questions, when MPs ask the Government for debates, Mr Benn said: “May we have a debate on the North-South divide? The Yorkshire Post reports that, although 109,000 more people are in work in London compared with a year ago, there are 20,000 fewer in Yorkshire and 15,000 fewer in the north-east.

“On Wednesday, we saw the fastest rise in the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants for more than two years. In light of that, why is it the Government’s policy that the Mayor of London has been given the London Development Agency’s assets free of charge, whereas every other council must pay for its regional development agency’s assets?

“Why is there one rule for London and another for the rest of the country?”

Mr Smith said: “May we have a debate on the Yorkshire Post’s ‘Fair Deal for Yorkshire’ campaign, particularly regarding the need for a fair deal on tourism funding between Yorkshire and Scotland.”

Responding to him, Sir George Young, Leader of the House of Commons, said: “I would have thought that the benefits of Yorkshire would speak for themselves as a holiday destination, but I am sure that VisitBritain [which promotes the whole country] will do what it can to promote York.”

The Scottish Government is giving tourism agency VisitScotland £38m but Welcome to Yorkshire’s funding is due to stop in April.