I’ve spent much of my retirement arguing for regional governance because it is central to fairness in England. Concentrated power and wealth in London and the south-east leave the rest competing for scraps. The young of all communities don’t have the same opportunities as those near the M25, regardless of their efforts. I emphasise the economic case – since investment, transport, and opportunity are what Westminster responds to – but this argument goes deeper.
But England lives with quiet contradiction. We talk endlessly about ‘local pride’, yet whenever regions like Cornwall, the north east, or Yorkshire try to express that pride politically or administratively, someone in Westminster clears their throat and steers the conversation back to something safer: ‘Englishness’. As if being Cornish, Geordie, or Yorkshire were a distraction rather than part of the story.
This isn’t new, but in recent decades it’s become subtler and more effective. The steady promotion of a single, tidy national identity has pushed aside the rich patchwork that once made England feel like a family of distinct places. Every attempt at regional self-government has been trimmed back, diluted, or quietly shelved. The north east referendum of 2004 offered a half-measure that convinced no one. Cornwall’s longstanding claim of recognition has been politely acknowledged and then ignored. The north has been kept busy with slogans – ‘Northern Powerhouse’, ‘levelling up’ – while the real power remained firmly in London.
It leaves a peculiar feeling: that our identities are allowed to exist, but only in an innocuous way, like tea towels in a gift shop.
Unity doesn’t have to mean uniformity
But at its core, this debate is about identity as much as the economy. It’s about who we are – and whether, in twenty years, a child of any community in Yorkshire, Cornwall, or the Midlands will still hear their grandparents’ voices or see those identities disappear into a marketable, bland ‘Britishness’. Regional identity as learned, practised or claimed by anyone making a life in a region, shapes our lives: in words, songs, celebrations, and each person’s sense of origin. The uncomfortable question is whether that identity is being actively eroded.
Studies already suggest that regional accents and dialects are fading, especially among younger people. That matters more than many realise, because accent is the most immediate marker of identity we carry with us. Lose that, and something deeper goes with it.
Elsewhere in Europe, this isn’t treated as a threat. In Italy, regions such as Tuscany, Sicily, and Lombardy enjoy real autonomy over finance, planning, and culture. People identify not just as Italian, but as Tuscan or Sicilian — without anyone questioning their loyalty to the state. In Greece, regional dialects, festivals, and traditions survive alongside national identity. These countries understand that unity does not require uniformity. The regions thrive precisely because their identities are respected. Why then should Cumbria, Yorkshire, or Cornwall be treated differently?
Turning down the volume on regional voices
The story of regional culture would be incomplete without acknowledging how our voices were treated. In the early days of the BBC, a ‘standard’ accent was virtually mandatory. Regional and working-class speech was sidelined in the belief that it sounded unprofessional or untrustworthy. That attitude lingered for decades. Veteran broadcaster Kate Adie has spoken of an unofficial ‘league table’ of accents, with Birmingham ranked as the most disliked. Universities reflected similar hierarchies. Students from the north and Midlands have described feeling marked out in tutorials and seminars, subtly encouraged to soften or abandon the way they spoke.
The result was predictable. Young people learned to mute themselves. They left home for education or work and shed part of who they were to fit in. Research by the Sutton Trust confirms that many professionals from working-class backgrounds have been mocked or criticised in the workplace for their accent. This isn’t ancient history, and it isn’t trivial. When we talk about culture and identity, the question of voice matters – because it shapes confidence, belonging, and opportunity.
Culture binds communities together
This is not nostalgic. Culture is what holds communities together. It underpins resilience, belonging, and mental well-being. When young people leave their hometowns, the sense of identity they carry with them helps them find their feet elsewhere. Knowing where you’re from, recognising your own dialect, taking part in local traditions, feeling part of something living rather than left behind – these things matter. They give life meaning in ways that economics alone never can.
Regional governance and local decision-making can make a real difference here. Communities with power over budgets and priorities can support the arts, schools, festivals, and heritage projects that matter to them. That might mean a heritage centre telling the story of local industry, dialect work in primary schools, or support for local music, dance, and storytelling. These aren’t vanity projects. They are investments in identity, continuity, and pride.
Across England, people haven’t stopped trying. In Cornwall, thousands continue to press for recognition of their language and culture. In the north east, many still remember the promise of devolution and wonder what might have been. In Lancashire, the red rose is everywhere – a quiet insistence that history still matters.
And here in Yorkshire, the tension is clearest of all. Yorkshire isn’t just a place on a map; it’s a way of speaking, of walking, of getting on with things. It’s the belief – learned early –that fairness isn’t something you debate, but something you expect. Yet over my lifetime, I’ve seen how easily that identity is pushed aside by a central government uncomfortable with anything too regional, too self-defined. Yorkshire is treated as a mere ‘county’, rather than a historic region of 5.5 million people, larger than Scotland.
Regional pride hasn’t faded – it’s been sidelined
What is encouraging is that when people are asked, many still feel a strong sense of regional identity – in Yorkshire, Cornwall, London, and the north east in particular. That sense of belonging hasn’t gone away. It has simply been denied a proper political and cultural outlet.
Yes, regional governance matters financially – for young people, new businesses, commuters, and parents worried about their local school. But it also matters for culture. Because culture is identity. Culture belongs. Culture is what tells the world that we matter.
We deserve both economic justice and cultural dignity. When we get that, we’re not just better off.
We’re properly ourselves.
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