YP Letters: Parties must work together for devolution

Political parties should work together on devolution, argues Coun James Baker.

I READ with interest Mark Thomas’s article ‘Why Lib Dems are out of touch on Yorkshire devolution’ (The Yorkshire Post, August 7).

Mark seems mistaken in saying Liberal Democrats have nothing to say on Yorkshire devolution.

On the contrary, we met as a regional party and agreed to support calls for a Yorkshire-wide devolution deal, and the establishment of a Yorkshire Parliament. Currently elected Liberal Democrats who are involved in local government across the region continue to pursue this agenda on both the councils they serve and the new combined authorities that exist in the region. I wish Mark the best of luck with his endeavours with the Yorkshire Party.

I do feel, however, that he should be seeking to build bridge and alliances with other political parties like the Liberal Democrats who are in favour of regional devolution rather than misrepresenting our position on devolution.

We will only win the prize of proper Yorkshire devolution if people from all political parties work together on this issue.