Yorkshire stands at a turning point. Tom Gordon MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough has tabled an amendment to the English devolution and community empowerment bill that would finally give Yorkshire real powers over transport, education, health, and housing. Westminster will likely reject it. It always does. But the conversation has started, and it won’t stop. Because Yorkshire folk know what we need – and we’re tired of asking nicely.
The amendment faces an uphill battle. Westminster governments, whether Labour or Conservative, share one belief above all others: power belongs at the centre. They talk about devolution, but watch what they actually do. The mayoral system they created appears to be a power-sharing arrangement, but it functions as a management tier for implementing Westminster’s decisions.
White Rose Agreement mayors need to be more than government lobbyists
Three of Yorkshire’s four mayors have caught on. Oliver Coppard, Tracy Brabin, and David Skaith formed the White Rose Agreement because they recognised something crucial: the powers they’ve been given aren’tenough. The Reform mayor for the Hull & East Riding, Luke Campbell, showed initial interest but chose not to join due to disagreements over net zero.
The White Rose Agreement tackles real issues – rail connectivity, cross-border buses, and economic growth. But look at the language. The mayors will “advocate” and “champion” Yorkshire’s interests. They’ll “work alongside government” to achieve their goals.
That’s not governing. That’s lobbying. These are elected leaders reduced to asking permission from unelected civil servants in London.
Transport: connecting Yorkshire or begging for scraps?
Transport reveals the con most clearly. Yorkshire receives a fraction of London’s per-capita transport spending.That’s not an accident or an oversight. It’s policy.
Young people in market towns often struggle to attend college because there’s no bus service available. Workers can’t access jobs in the next town because the train service is overcrowded and unreliable. Rural communities are cut off completely.
A Yorkshire government with real transport powers could fix this. Not by asking London nicely. But by deciding where the money goes and building what Yorkshire needs.
East-West connectivity would become a priority, not a pipe dream mentioned in reports that gather dust. Northern Powerhouse Rail wouldn’t need “advocating for” – we’d just build it. Bus networks would run when local people need them for work, leisure, or to get to appointments, not according to remote, centralised and often minimal standards.
Jobs follow transport. Businesses locate where connections work. Yorkshire’s patchy transport means they go elsewhere. Young people leave because they can’t get anywhere from here.
Real devolution can reverse that. Connect the towns, connect the people to jobs, and watch what happens.
Health: dying younger because Westminster decides
Yorkshire’s health outcomes lag behind the national average. We know why. Post-industrial communities deal with the legacy of heavy industry. Rural areas lack access to services. Poverty-related health conditions cluster in areas that saw manufacturing jobs vanish, and nothing replace them.
Yet health policy gets decided in Whitehall by people who’ve never set foot in Barnsley or Scarborough. They design national programmes that work brilliantly in leafy suburbs, and fail completely in Yorkshire’s former mining towns.
A Yorkshire government could align health priorities with actual local needs. Preventative care designed for communities that exist, not policy paper fantasies. Services shaped by people who understand what “left behind” means in practice, not theory.
The wealthy already get nearly 20 years more healthy life than the poor. Westminster’s one-size-fits-all approach ensures that the gap will continue to grow. A Yorkshire-led healthcare could start closing it.
Education: training for jobs
Westminster dictates education and skills policy. The results speak for themselves. Post-industrial towns that were gutted by deindustrialisation still haven’t recovered. Young people get trained for jobs that don’t exist in Yorkshire, then leave to find them elsewhere.
A Yorkshire government could align education with local economic development. Train young people for jobs that are here. Support industries that could thrive with proper backing. Build on Yorkshire’s strengths instead of pretending we’re all going to work in London’s financial sector.
This isn’t complicated. It’s common sense. But common sense doesn’t come from London – it comes from people who live here and understand what Yorkshire needs to succeed.
The gap keeps growing
Every year that passes without real devolution, the gaps widen. London and the south east get infrastructure investment, government backing, and private capital. Yorkshire gets told to make do with less and be grateful.
The White Rose mayors understand this. Their agreement talks about “long-standing challenges” and the “huge opportunities in front of us.” But you can’t seize opportunities without power to act. You can’t transform a region by asking permission.
The current system condemns Yorkshire to managed decline. Fragmented mayoral authorities with limited budgets and constrained powers can’t compete with regions that get direct government investment. Westminster’s careful management of devolution ensures nothing fundamentally changes.
What Yorkshire could be
Yorkshire has the same population size as Scotland. Our economy rivals Wales. Our regional identity runs deeper than most of England’s counties combined.
What we lack is the authority to govern ourselves. That’s not an accident. It’s a choice that Westminster keeps making.
But the case for Yorkshire self-government isn’t complicated. We know our strengths. We know our challenges. We know what needs fixing and how to fix it.
Real devolution would give Yorkshire control over transport spending. We’d connect our towns and cities properly. We’d build Northern Powerhouse Rail without begging London for permission.
Real devolution means Yorkshire-led health policy. Services designed for communities that exist here, not policy fantasies. Tackling the industrial health legacy that Westminster ignores.
Real devolution means education aligned with Yorkshire’s economy. Training young people for jobs that exist here. Building industries that could thrive with proper support.
Real devolution means Yorkshire decides how Yorkshire’s money gets spent. On our priorities, not London’s preferences.
The choice Westminster probably won’t make
Tom Gordon’s amendment could be transformative if it passes later this week, and would finally give Yorkshire the tools it needs to control its own future.
Of course, Westminster may try to say that Yorkshire isn’t ready, that the mayoral system needs more time to embed, and that further devolution requires more consultation. More delays. More studies. More reasons whythe right time isn’t now. Westminster hangs on to real power.
But Yorkshire folk are watching. We see the White Rose mayors trying to work together despite the limited powers they’ve been given. We see the transport gap widening. We see our young people leaving because the opportunities aren’t here.
We know what needs to change. We’re ready to take charge.
The question is whether Westminster will trust Yorkshire to make its own decisions – or whether we’ll hear again that the timing isn’t right, while investment continues flowing south.
Yorkshire’s potential is real. Our needs are clear. The White Rose mayors have shown that, even with limited powers, Yorkshire can work together and be more effective. Imagine what we could achieve with the authority to match our ambition.
Tom Gordon’s amendment opens that conversation, and, whatever happens this week, the case for Yorkshire self-government isn’t going away. Because Yorkshire folk know what we need. We’ve been making the case for years, and we’ll keep making it until Westminster listens.
