YP Comment: Yorkshire's wake-up call over devolution

Six months after senior industrialists wrote an open letter in The Yorkshire Post calling for an end to the impasse, perhaps the time has come for such individuals to seize the initiatives themselves and put together a business-first framework.

After all, it was significant that the Government defended the £1bn offered to Northern Ireland in return for the Democratic Unionist Party’s support in key votes by outlining the amount of money being poured into city-regions. The exception? You’ve guessed it. Yorkshire.

Yet, while the NAO does make a number of valid points about the importance of elected councillors scrutinising the work of elected mayors, it is clear that this leadership model is here to stay and Yorkshire will be the biggest loser of all if this region prevaricates for much longer.

This was illustrated by Andy Burnham’s speech to the Local Government Association in which the new super-mayor for Greater Manchester challenged Brexit Secretary David Davis to form a new cabinet committee in which elected metro-mayors, and representatives from the regions, would attend monthly meetings and help shape the negotiations.

Indeed, it’s in the Government’s best interests, now that it longer enjoys a Commons majority, to be far more consultative and collaborative to ensure that the English regions are not marginalised by the wishes of the City of London and the devolved nations. Yet, if Mr Burnham’s initiative was implemented, there’s no guarantee that Yorkshire would be represented. If it was, who would be asked to represent this most diverse of counties and economies?

All the more reason for there to be a broader debate about the remit of metro-mayors here – and the opportunities that will exist if the concept is embraced. It might just help to break the political logjam.

Just to cap it off...

WITHOUT DOUBT, this has been the most chastening month in Theresa May’s political career – a misjudged election compounded by the Grenfell Tower inferno and growing debate about whether those health and emergency workers who responded to this tragedy, and recent terrorist attacks, now merit a pay rise.

In one sense, Mrs May came out fighting at Prime Minister’s Questions as her premiership approaches its first anniversary. She highlighted the number of NHS staff and teachers that have been recruited since 2010 – and that it would be irresponsible to lift the pay cap if the nation’s finances cannot support the loosening of the purse strings. If not, everyone will pay the price.

The problem is that the PM has run out of political credit. After finding £1bn to buy the support of Northern Ireland’s DUP party, it’s harder for the Government to resist those politicians, including senior ministers, who want to end austerity in defiance of warnings issued by David Cameron from the Far East. To cap it off, the Government did itself no favours when John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, tabled an urgent question after PMQs.Instead of Chancellor Philip Hammond responding, he sat stony-faced on the front bench while Treasury chief secretary Liz Truss tried – and failed – to provide some clarity. For, unless the Prime Minister and Chancellor bury the hatchet and reach an agreed position, the prevailing uncertainty will only lessen Mrs May’s survival chances.

Captain Joe

EVER since Joe Root held his first cricket bat before he could even walk, he was singled out as a future player of note because of his all-round flair at the crease and an impish – sometimes mischievous – personality that could not be more endearing to his team-mates and supporters.

As such, the pride will be palpable when Sheffield’s very own Captain Joe skippers England’s Test team for the very first time when he leads his side out at Lord’s, the home of cricket, for the start of the eagerly-awaited series with South Africa.

A day of destiny for a bristling batsman who has become one of this county’s finest and foremost ambassadors, the 26-year-old will receive no shortage of guidance, some wisdom more helpful than others, from the game’s more outspoken grandees. Our advice, however, could not be more sincere or simpler – don’t let the new role change you from being the cherubic Joe Root who won the hearts of Yorkshire and cricket devotees alike.