Businesses and industry groups from across Yorkshire have called on the government to commit to funding a £14bn plan for improved rail services in the region.

A multibillion-pound plan to fix Yorkshire's "creaking Victorian-era" railways has been put forward by the former home secretary Lord Blunkett.

Backed by the mayors of West, South and North Yorkshire, Lord Blunkett said the region had been held back by ageing infrastructure, poor performance and unreliable trains.

Lord Blunkett, who is leading a review of rail connectivity in Yorkshire, joined Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire) Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire) and David Skaith (York and North Yorkshire), to meet Heidi Alexander, and Rail Minister, Peter Hendy, at York’s National Railway Museum to discuss how they can help to fast-track the delivery of improvements and support the national growth agenda.

Historic deal between Yorkshire’s three metro mayors unlocks the social, economic and political benefits of uniting the Yorkshire regions

Commenting after the signing of a new ‘White Rose Agreement‘, by the Mayors of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Universities Executive Director, Dr Peter O’Brien, said:

“We welcome today’s news that the current three Mayors in Yorkshire have given a commitment to work collaboratively on key economic, social and environmental issues …”

£24.6 million of funding secured as part of Hull and East Yorkshire’s devolution deal is in line to be spent on key projects, after approval was granted by the Leaders of Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Devolution deals for Hull and East Yorkshire and for Lincolnshire have been agreed by the government.

Calls for Yorkshire-wide devolution have noticeably quietened in recent years after the Government rejected the 'One Yorkshire' proposal supported by the vast majority of this region's councils back in 2019.

Grassroots campaigners are set to mark the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the historic Ridings of Yorkshire by calling for the establishment of a regional assembly with budgetary control and tax-raising powers.

TOP DOWN government just doesn't work and continuing to pursue this approach is severely hampering the country's economy.

Party looks to local leaders to power up their economies

The success of English devolution requires a coherent and long-term framework that addresses the challenges with the Government’s current approach, write Jack Shaw and Jack Newman.

The UK government’s approach to funding for levelling up has been widely criticised – including by the influential Public Accounts Committee – for being competitive and opaque.

But this Yorkshire Day, the leading think tank for the north of England has calculated what investment in Yorkshire might look like if funding to level up the country was devolved to local leaders and allocated not by competition, but by a transparent framework.

As the IPPR North put it ‘The UK continues to stand out internationally for the wrong reason: because it is the most regionally unbalanced large, advanced economy’. With growth at the centre of the national political agenda what is to be done in God’s own country?

Yorkshire Day is a celebration of all the amazing things that this great region has to offer. But it has long been acknowledged that this proud region has been deprived of the tools it needs to realise its true potential.

The centralised economy is simply not working for the majority of the people in this country. It has resulted in communities being left behind and regions like Yorkshire failing to realise their true potential.

The need to kickstart the economy is growing more urgent by the day. A recession is looming, as latest GDP figures show, and therefore there is no reason for the Government to not start taking action now.

Gordon Brown’s report on changing our country’s governance is an analysis long overdue. It is worth deep consideration. I’m sure there are many elements that will have broad support up and down the country. When it comes to local government there are several proposals that seem so common sense it is disappointing that they must be stated and highlight the failures of the current government.

In a speech to the Scottish Labour Party conference in 1994, the then leader of the UK Labour Party John Smith, referred to the creation of a Scottish Parliament as “the settled will of the Scottish people”.

On the one hand, Yorkshiremen and women tend to be immensely proud of the county, its physical attributes and the character of its people. They tend to be scornful of ‘the south’ and they certainly believe it’s God’s Own Country.