Yorkshire

Political leaders from across the region have urged businesses to continue to support efforts to wrestle greater power back from London.

Yorkshire is best placed to serve the interests of Yorkshire was the message at Insider's breakfast 'Combine and Conquer', which examined the creation of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The newly formed authority – made up of the councils of Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and the City of York – has been charged with increasing the economy by £5.2bn and creating 62,000 jobs.

But Cllr Peter Box, leader of Wakefield Council and chair of the combined authority, went further and said he believed the region could function as an independent state.

"Whatever happens in the coming Scottish independence vote, there will be more devolution. The genie is out the bottle, we want more power and I actually believe Yorkshire should be independent," he said.

"We are big enough, we are economically strong enough to have independence – I foresee in the next ten years areas like Yorkshire wanting more and more devolution."

Roger Marsh, chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership said: "This is about having one economic plan for the area which is both ambitious but also credible."

Cllr Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said: "It's about time the north got its act together and started to take some of the powers back from Whitehall. In what is the most centralised country in the world, the north is finally getting to grips with its own destiny."

Box, Marsh and Wakefield were joined by Cllr James Alexander, leader of York City Council, Cllr Tim Swift, leader of Calderdale Council and the chief executive of Kirklees Council Adrian Lythgo.

Cllr Alexander explained why York had joined forces with its West Yorkshire counterparts.

"We need to be on the inside. The Leeds city region is one of the largest economies in Europe and we want to be part of the success," he said.

"We've increased the size of our economy and we've decreased the number of people out of work but to take the next step we need to be part of something bigger."

The event was held in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and took place at the Hilton Leeds City.

For the full report on the breakfast, pick up a copy of July's edition of Yorkshire Business Insider which will be available in the first week of next month. Click here to take out a membership.