T'Yorkshire Assembly

By Jack Tindale

Yorkshire, whether you think of it as 'God's Own County', or an uppity region with a Pennine-sized chip on its shoulder, is nevertheless a place with a firm identity, which for many years has clamoured for more autonomy of its own. In the early-2000s, it was one of three regions in the North of England that was mooted for devolution, but a failed referendum in the North-East, coupled with an increasingly ambivalent Westminster, scuppered proposals before they began. Over a decade later, no real progress has been made to give the Three Ridings the powers available to Scotland, Wales, or even Manchester.

In T'Yorkshire Assembly, however, efforts prove a little more successful. In a travelogue across the region, politicians, academics, and journalists review the impact of fifteen years of home-rule for the ancient capital of, um, Bradford. 

From rapturous support to entrenched cynicism, from Buffet Bars to Barnsley, and from Leeds to London, T'Yorkshire Assembly gives a look at devolved United Kingdom that is even more of a patchwork than our reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sea Lion Press
• Release date: Oct 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386137955

Book preview

T’Yorkshire Assembly

Jack Tindale

First published by Sea Lion Press, 2017

Preface

T’Yorkshire Assembly was originally written in 2014, back in the days of the coalition government, when industrial policy was a dirty word, the country was still basking in the afterglow of the London Olympics, and no one really thought that the British electorate were going to offered the opportunity of a referendum on the European Union. However, just as I sat down to plan the first vignette, the then-Chancellor, George Osborne, announced something unusual. For the first time in decades, a Conservative-led Government was going to devolve power.

That region was not Yorkshire, obviously, but an urban area on the other side of the Pennines, Greater Manchester, which was to get control over a great deal of economic areas and local budgets, in return for electing a city-wide Metro Mayor. There was a great deal of scoffing at the idea, but in a sign of how much the political landscape has changed in the past three years, the first elected holder of that post is a genuine political heavyweight, who at the time was considered as the frontrunner to be the next Leader of the Labour Party, Andy Burnham.

I am proud to call myself a Yorkshireman, and believe that my family have lived in the Barnsley area for as long as records exist. At the time, I felt hard done by. Why, after-all, was Yorkshire once again being overlooked for the sort of powers and influences that were being granted to the likes of Manchester, and soon after Merseyside, the West Midlands, Bristol, and the like? It appeared to be another snub to the largest historic county in England.

My views have changed a great deal since then, and I was originally loathe to revisit this work of fiction. I have always taken a great deal of interest in regional economics, especially with regard to productivity, and I have become far more sceptical of the idea that a Yorkshire-wide deal is in the best interests of anyone who actually lives here. This version of T’Yorkshire Assembly has one new part, and I must apologies profusely to John Elledge of CityMetric for putting my own rant into his mouth - a hamper of the finest local produce Barnsley has to offer is available by means of recompense. I am also indebted to CityMetric for reminding me of the classic joke about how - if you want world peace - your best bet is to encourage aliens