Action needed to bridge divide

PM should back science plan

DISGRACEFULLY UNJUST levels of Government investment in Yorkshire have held us back for decades, and if the Prime Minister’s pledge to level up the economy is to be believed, he must start acting in this region’s best interests and end the inequality.

One way Boris Johnson could do so is to follow today’s recommendations by the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network and back the creation of a new “golden triangle” of life sciences companies, which would boost both the nation’s health and our region’s economic fortunes.

The need to do both could hardly be more pressing, given the toll on health taken by coronavirus and the economic downturn lockdown is causing.

Yorkshire is fortunate to have world-leading firms that are ready and willing to deliver, and yet the northsouth divide that bedevils our county means that their counterparts in Oxford and Cambridge receive a much greater level of funding.

The disparity in investment outlined in the report is staggering and completely unjustifiable. Infrastructure spending per person in our region is £767. In the south-east, it is £1,105.

Today’s report adds to the pressure put on the Government by NHS leaders from our region in February, when they pointed out that only £21 per person is spent on health research and innovation here, compared with £62 in the south-east.

These inequalities demand urgent attention from Mr Johnson. By letting them continue, he not only damages Yorkshire’s economy and the health of its residents, but does the entire country a disservice at a time when it is in the national interest to have every region performing as vigorously as possible.

Levelling up the economy and closing the North-South divide that is so harmful matters more than ever. We need action, and not warm words, from Mr Johnson without delay.