Tag Archives: yorkshire

Lord William Wallace

William Wallace writes: What do Liberal Democrats have to offer the “left behind”?

By Lord William Wallace | Wed 1st July 2026 - 12:55 pm

Regional redistribution from the wealthy South-East to Britain’s poorer cities, towns and villages is a sensitive issue for Liberal Democrats.  When Britain left the EU and English regions and the devolved nations lost their share of EU regional funding (part of the balancing gains to the UK that the Leave campaign successfully ignored) the imbalance of investment and funding between the wealthy south-east and the rest of the UK tipped further.  Boris Johnson breezily promised to ‘level up’ the country, raising expectations that were shattered when he failed to follow through.  Andy Burnham may be more serious about reviving our poorer regions, and we as Liberal Democrats will have  to respond carefully.

I have had a number of difficult arguments with colleagues in the party about this over the years.  Liberal Democrats are above all local champions, standing up for neglected communities within the areas they represent.  When I and others have argued for larger regional transfers MPs and councillors have reminded us of the pockets of poverty in north and east London, Kent, Somerset and beyond.  Our parliamentary party spreads broadly across southern England, but sadly has few champions yet for Lancashire, Yorkshire or the North-East.  We’ve already heard some champions of London – not in our own party – protesting that ‘taking money from London’ would be a betrayal of Londoners’ interests.  It’s hard for some of our own to resist similar responses.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 16 Comments
Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Joe Otten interviewed on Sunday Politics

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd April 2016 - 12:24 pm

Joe OttenGiven half a chance, Liberal Democrats would get rid of Police and Crime Commissioners. While the positions exist, though, it’s important that voters have the chance to choose a Liberal Democrat.

It’s good to see that the party is putting more effort into contesting these positions than we did four years ago. Two members of the LDV team are even standing, Chris White in Hertfordshire and Joe Otten in Yorkshire.

Last Sunday, Joe was interviewed, along with the other candidates, on BBC Sunday Politics. Have a watch here.

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Farron: The Northern Powerhouse is a sham

By The Voice | Fri 13th November 2015 - 3:13 pm

Tim Farron has been in Yorkshire twice this week. He spoke at Yorkshire and the Humber (note, the name of the region is right this time) Liberal Democrat conference on Saturday and he was back for the Annual Dinner in Greg Mulholland’s seat on Wednesday.

While he was there, he spoke to the Yorkshire Post and was not impressed by the Conservative’s model of devolution:

One of the reasons the northern powerhouse is a sham and a failure is because this Government are now so obsessed with making sure that we reduce the size of the state that we are therefore not investing in the rail services that we need, in the housing that we need, the green energy we need, the broadband we need.

“Whilst the Labour Party is completely wrong-footed, completely in denial that the deficit needs to be reduced, cleared and to balance the books, George Osborne is mistaking the need to make sure you balance the books on your day to day expenditure with having to at the same time not invest in capital expenditure.

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Sarah Noble

Opinion: Ending the northern power cut

By Sarah Noble | Fri 26th June 2015 - 8:55 am

Yesterday, Patrick McLoughlin announced what many of us had feared but were hoping would never happen: electrification of the train line between Manchester and Leeds was to be postponed, and possibly cancelled. The lynchpin of the Northern Powerhouse was pulled out and the plan predictably fell apart at the seams.

Three months ago, the Conservatives promised that £38 bn would be invested in the national rail network, mostly into electrifying the old diesel lines. This was so important to the Tories, we were told, that it was at the top of the manifesto. On page 11, the Tories outlined their plans for £13 bn for the North alone, going towards new trains, new lines, and new wires. And in one speech today, McLoughlin snuffed out the flame of hope in such a way on the Tories can.

The rail network in the North is completely dire, and bears all of the hallmarks of central government in London meddling time and time again. Serco-Abellio were awarded all but the actually profitable lines and told to run a vast network in the North using Cold War-era trains under the assumption that there was to be no growth and no investment in the Northern network. And to their credit, they’ve done a good job from what they’ve been given.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 43 Comments
Alisdair Calder McGregor

Opinion: Limited Devolution may be ok for Manchester, but Yorkshire deserves better

By Alisdair Calder McGregor | Wed 5th November 2014 - 8:54 am

Yorkshire DalesThe news that George Osborne is offering further powers to Manchester (if – and only if – they turn their backs on the democratic will of the people and implement an elected Mayor in spite of Manchester voting “No” to having one) has been enthusiastically accepted by the Manchester Labour Party, because, as with all local Labour parties, they very much prefer a government that cannot be scrutinized and wields power in secret, unaccountable meetings.

Yorkshire deserves far better than this Tory & Labour stitch-up of an end-run around democracy and accountability.

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Greg Mulholland MP

Greg Mulholland MP writes…Celebrating our county’s riches on Yorkshire Day

By Greg Mulholland MP | Thu 31st July 2014 - 2:14 pm

Yorkshire The spotlight of the world recently shone on Yorkshire for the Tour de France and Grand Départ. Chosen ahead of Barcelona, Florence, Berlin, Venice and Edinburgh, would the county deliver?

I think we can now answer the question with a proud and resounding “yes”. This was just another chapter in the incredible history of success that this county has enjoyed.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 8 Comments
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