POLITICS YEAR IN REVIEW
Brexit, the future of Yorkshire devolution and a scandal over tourism chief Gary Verity dominated in the early months of 2019. Rob Parsons reports.
In Parliament, Brexit is allconsuming as Theresa May’s failure to get a deal passed puts her future as Prime Minister in jeopardy. MPs rejected her EU Withdrawal Agreement in the worst defeat the House of Commons has ever witnessed. The historic defeat of 432 votes to 202 prompts Jeremy Corbyn to put forward a motion of no confidence in the Government, which the PM survives by 325 votes to 306. With fears growing that the UK will not leave the EU by the March 29 deadline, Yorkshire members of the European Parliament prepare themselves for a fresh set of elections in just four months.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was in the spotlight, as MPs call for urgent talks over growing fears the Government is woefully unprepared for the impact of a no-deal Brexit on trade through the Humber’s ports. Mr Grayling is forced to defend giving a Government nodeal Brexit ferry contract worth almost £14m to a firm with no ships.
The outgoing leader of the Sheffield City Region, Sir Nigel Knowles, lambasts council leaders as “blocks of granite” over the lack of progress in securing a devolution deal in Yorkshire.
In a brief diversion from Brexit, Mrs May describes the launch of the 10-year plan for the NHS in England as a “truly historic moment”. NHS England’s plan sets out how the health service will use the £20.5bn a year by 2023-24 promised in 2018’s Budget.
launches a special series to shine the spotlight on high streets across the region and the individual challenges each of those face. It emerges that as many as four in 10 bank branches have been lost across Yorkshire and the Humber in less than a decade.
European Council president Donald Tusk sparks fury by suggesting there will be “a special place in hell” for those who promoted Brexit without a plan for how to deliver it. And there are troubles at home as Agriculture Minister George Eustice quits the Government
As many as four in ten bank branches have been lost in a decade.
One of the findings of a special series of reports into Yorkshire’s high streets.
following Theresa May’s decision to allow MPs to vote on extending Brexit negotiations beyond March 29.
Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry urges leaders to keep challenging the Government on its ambitions for the North as he reveals plans to ensure the region’s towns and rural areas are not left behind in the coming years. Ahead of the Great Northern Conference in Leeds, former Chancellor George Osborne launches a scathing attack on Downing Street’s “lack of vision” on how best to empower the North.
Rail Minister and Harrogate
MP Andrew Jones says claims that the northern stages of HS2 will be scrapped are “nonsense” amid fears that the Government is planning to scale back the project because of rising costs.
Council leaders Carl Les and Judith Blake challenge the Government to explain what devolution deal it could agree to after Ministers rejected the ambitious One Yorkshire plan despite widespread local backing. James Brokenshire claims that the regionwide proposal did not meet government criteria, an announcement described as a “big blow to the business community”.
Seven Labour MPs including Penistone and Stocksbridge’s Angela Smith and Keighleyborn Chris Leslie quit the party to form The Independent Group. They are later joined by Yorkshire-born Heidi Allen and fellow Tories Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston.
North Yorkshire’s police commissioner Julia Mulligan criticises the way Conservatives in the county treat female politicians after failing to win automatic reselection from the party ahead of next year’s election.
Further legal assurances from
the EU about the temporary nature of the Northern Irish backstop are not enough to quell Brexiteer rebellion in the Commons, and Mrs May loses a second meaningful vote on her deal by 149 votes.
Sir Gary Verity quits as the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire ‘‘on health grounds’’ following an internal investigation by the region’s tourism organisation into concerns over his behaviour towards staff and his expenses payments.
Political leaders make the case to Minister James Brokenshire at a summit held at Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, that Yorkshire has a vital role to play in fuelling the UK’s future prosperity as they unite behind the £30bn-a-year proposals for region-wide devolution. Separately, local leaders agree a way forward for the £30m-a-year SheffieldCity Region devolution deal.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid rejects an offer by the Bishop of Sheffield to establish an independent panel to examine the events surrounding the notorious “Battle of Orgreave” in South Yorkshire at the height of the Miners’ Strike – less than three years after the Government refused to order a public inquiry.
A £1.6bn fund to boost rundown towns after Brexit is launched by the Government in a moved dubbed a “Brexit bribe” by political opponents who say it is aimed at trying to influence Labour MPs in Leave-supporting areas.
The leader of York Council, Coun Ian Gillies, announces that he is not seeking reelection in the local elections in May.
With her grip on power waning, Theresa May agrees a new deadline for leaving the EU of October 31. The move sparks bitter recriminations from Brexiteers, who call for the Prime Minister to resign. Downing Street says Mrs May continues to have full confidence in her Chief Whip, North Yorkshire MP Julian Smith, after he publicly criticised the Government’s approach to Brexit and accused Cabinet members of the “worst example of ill-discipline in British political history”.
North Yorkshire County Council denies it will use a newly acquired drone to snoop on people’s homes, over fears the investment could lead to an expansion of “state surveillance”.
An influential House of Lords committee says rural Britain has been let down by decades of government neglect that has left its economy decimated. In a damning indictment of years of urban-focused strategies, it demands a wholesale rethinking of decision making and a system of “rural proofing” future schemes to protect the countryside.
The PM faces demands for a full police inquiry into the leak of secret discussions by the UK’s top national security body. Furious MPs denounced the unprecedented disclosures following the meeting of the National Security Council as “completely shocking”.
Political and business leaders lobby Minister James Brokenshire over the future of one of Europe’s biggest development projects, York Central, amid fears that delays may be putting vital funding for the scheme at risk.