YP Comment: Time for unity '“ not division: Path clear for Brexit negotiations

As events go they don’t get much more significant than Brexit which has loomed over Theresa May’s Government like the sword of Damocles ever since she took office.

It is the biggest single issue the UK has faced in a generation and has, not surprisingly, dominated the first eight months of her premiership. There have already been bumps in the road, with the promise of many more to come. However, Mrs May has been steadfast in her determination to enact the results of last year’s referendum and has repeatedly called for unity as Britain begins the arduous process of extricating itself from 
the EU.

Though the Prime Minister was taken by surprise when Nicola Sturgeon pre-empted the triggering of Article 50 by setting out her draft timetable for a second referendum on Scottish independence earlier this week, she refused to be outmanoeuvred by Scotland’s First Minister and has rejected calls for an independence referendum before Brexit saying, in a carefully calibrated rebuff, that “now is not the time”. In doing so she has wrestled the initiative from Ms Sturgeon and reminded people north of the border there is no single market more important to Scotland than the United Kingdom.

The fact these political machinations were played out on the day the Queen gave Royal Assent to the Brexit bill, clearing the way for the Prime Minister to notify Brussels that the UK is leaving the EU, is an indication of the challenges that lie ahead.

The phony war of words will soon be over as we begin the serious business of negotiation. This will test the resolve and political mettle of Mrs May and the ministers she has entrusted with making sure that Britain gets the best Brexit deal possible.

Take back control - Council of the North is needed, says think tank

The idea of a Council of the North is nothing new, it can be traced back to the Yorkist king Edward VI at the end of the 15th Century. It was established in large part to improve economic prosperity for the whole of Northern England – an idea that is at the heart of new proposals being launched in Hull today by IPPR North.

The think tank’s report Taking Back Control of the North argues, with good reason, that in a post-Brexit world, the North of England needs a voice and powers to match London and Scotland. It says that while London and Scotland have benefited enormously from devolution, the North has missed out. The report also points out that regional institutions don’t have the clout to make big decisions and the North of England as a whole lacks strategic leadership.

The answer, it believes, lies in the creation of a Council of the North – made up of 19 combined authorities and counties – that would enable the whole of the North to speak with a single voice, giving it more powers to invest in major infrastructure schemes and to compete on the global stage. The idea is that a Northern Citizens Assembly would oversee this, allowing people to ‘take back control.’

In January, shadow cabinet minister Jon Trickett unveiled an alternative plan to George Osborne’s vision for a Northern Powerhouse, calling for a “single elected voice for Yorkshire” alongside a new Council of the North and a Bank of the North.

The problem is will any of these ideas come to pass? Publishing reports and plans is all very well, but what the people of Yorkshire really need is someone, or something, to implement them.

Gift of life

IVF treatment has given new life to infertile couples and now it could help parents avoid the agony of watching their child die as a result of genetic diseases passed on by them.

News that doctors in the North East have been given the first UK licence to create babies from three genetic parents, has been hailed as a “momentous day” for patients by the team at the Newcastle Fertility Centre.

The advanced form of IVF will be used to prevent children dying from inherited conditions, and the hope is it will overcome mitochondrial diseases which leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating and end the misery endured by families that have lost multiple children to the disease.

It is a landmark victory for those who have campaigned for the technique to be introduced in this country and comes just two months after a baby was born to a previously infertile couple in Ukraine using a new type of “three-person IVF”.