Liberating Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a place of outstanding natural beauty, rich in racial and cultural diversity, and full of untapped human potential. Yet, we live in a Yorkshire where austerity measures are trapping people, as is record child poverty, underperforming schools, little or no job security, zero-hour contracts and poor wages. Our streets have broken pavements and potholes in the road. Our health service is overworked, and public transport and other public services are increasingly unreliable. Household debt is spiralling out of control, as are alcohol, drugs, and gambling addictions.
This shocking state of affairs is an indictment on successive central Westminster governments, our democratic system and the political class. The White Paper on English Devolution is the best Labour can offer, but the notion of devolution as they define it does not go anywhere nearly far enough.
Looking Beyond Devolution
These difficulties have become firmly entrenched in Yorkshire’s way of life due to successive governments’ neglect of Yorkshire’s needs. There are no quick answers or cures. Devolution may be the first stage, but it is limited in scope and can only ever be the first stage.
There is a need to look beyond devolution toward a safer, permanent solution. We offer these four steps for consideration towards finding it.
1. Establish a regional government that enables Yorkshire to control its internal affairs.
2. Adopt a new kind of democracy, a vibrant democracy that combines deliberative and participative practices with genuinely accountable elected representation, where Yorkshire citizens can become the instigators of change.
3. Move towards a new ecological civilisation that harmonises our social needs with the needs of our natural environment and tackles the pressing issues of climate disruption.
4. Press for an inclusive Society to ensure no one is ever left behind again.
We have introduced a blog to update you regularly on the latest arguments for establishing a regional government, upcoming events, and milestones. We encourage you to respond to any of these through the comments section.