Under a devolved Yorkshire, powers delegated by the Westminster government could just as easily be taken away by them as they were given. This situation applies to Yorkshire’s four regional mayors, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd. The current system, which leaves us vulnerable to the whims of Whitehall, is neither satisfactory nor secure.
People are struggling
Under our current governance arrangements many Yorkshire families are struggling to keep their heads above water in the face of mounting challenges. For instance, in parts of South and West Yorkshire, over one in four working-age adults claim some form of health-related benefit. The child poverty rates in cities like Bradford and Hull already exceed 35%. This is not the future we want for our county’s families or children, and is just one painful example of the Westminster political parties’ neo-liberal agenda’s failure.
Austerity measures, caps on benefits, restrictions on universal credit, and cuts to local services have disproportionately affected regions like Yorkshire. These changes stripped away social protections, pushing more people into insecure work or informal economies. Prioritising free market principles and limited government intervention has led to the implementation of policies with damaging consequences:
- Workers are thrown to the slag heap. Yorkshire’s proud history of manufacturing and heavy industry, which has been decimated, is a crucial part of our identity. The impact of this decline is significant. Permanent jobs are being replaced by short-term contracts, primarily in the service industries, gig economy jobs, and zero-hours contracts that are often punishing. Irregular pay, often below the living wage, has created an emotional toll of anxiety and a sense of powerlessness.
- We face a continuous housing crisis. Ridiculously high interest rates and deposits out of the reach of most people, rising rents, limited social housing, and stagnant wages have made it harder for people to cope. In areas such as Leeds, Bradford, and parts of South Yorkshire, the lack of a comfortable, decent, affordable home has become a defining feature.
- Apprenticeship starts and access to quality employment have lagged behind national averages in some areas. Within my living memory, being raised in Batley, not the wealthiest of areas, the smallest manufacturing factories had their own apprenticeship schools, and school leavers, even with the minimum qualifications, were at liberty to choose the career path they wished to follow and who they wanted to work for.
Devolution is not autonomy
Yorkshire already has devolution in the form of our four regional mayors, but they have limited budgets and limited powers to address our area’s problems. Devolution falls far short of regional autonomy. Genuine autonomy is a permanent transfer of powers essential for the future well-being of Yorkshire and its people. It reframes Yorkshire not as a recipient of Westminster’s offerings but as a sovereign community capable of defining its own terms of unity and solidarity, empowered to shape its own destiny.
Autonomy isn’t just about reshaping our governance arrangements with Westminster. It’s about liberating people, a different way of living, an act of imagination, a reawakening of possibility, a commitment to hope, dignity, and the future we want to build together. It’s based on the transformative power of choice, allowing people to dream without limits, enabling them to speak up with the confidence of knowing those in authority will hear them, and ultimately having the power to make their own decisions, whether at the county, municipal, or local community level.
It’s a revolution in how we govern and shape our future. It’s about reclaiming the right to shape our own governance, economics, and identity from the grassroots, by and for the people of Yorkshire. It’s not about fixing our currently broken system; it’s about stepping outside of it to use our imagination to build something new that reflects our values.
But it’s a responsibility we must shoulder with care, understanding that our choices will have real consequences. It’s about respecting the unique perspectives and needs of our local communities, allowing them to define their own priorities. This is far more effective than being governed by distant institutions with a limited understanding of our county’s realities.
Autonomy in action
Autonomy would enable us to implement policies tailored to our unique needs, fostering a more prosperous and inclusive Yorkshire. For instance, we could introduce policies to boost our local economy, improve our healthcare system, and provide better education opportunities for our children. We could choose to invest in renewable energy to combat climate change and create jobs, or implement community policing strategies to address local crime issues.
But we can already see autonomy in action. For instance, a grassroots initiative in South Yorkshire led by local faith leaders effectively countered far-right narratives through interfaith and intra-community dialogue. They identified safe spaces and used storytelling and sectoral social dialogues to build trust across divides. In doing so, they demonstrated how speaking up and knowing you will be listened to – can be a tool of resistance and, importantly, healing.
Achieving autonomy for Yorkshire
Achieving real autonomy will eventually require the creation of a codified regional constitution for Yorkshire, along with a separate Yorkshire government and institutions with budgetary and fiscal powers. Yorkshire would obviously remain part of the United Kingdom, but with the powers to fully manage its internal affairs, which it currently lacks and will never have under devolution.
Is this a pipe dream? In the opinion of the organisation Liberating Yorkshire, “It doesn’t exist yet – but it can”. The organisation offers practical help through its ‘participatory toolkit’ to help communities to co-create a new approach to governance from the ground up.
Wherever you live, whatever your background or experiences, we invite you to share your wisdom and join us in bringing about this much needed and historic change that will impact generations to come, both in your family and mine.
You can contact me via my LinkedIn or through Liberating Yorkshire’s website. I look forward to hearing from you.
