Yorkshire Day plea by Harrogate MP for a 'true Transport for Yorkshire policy' to help North Yorkshire

Harrogate’s MP is calling for a truly Transport for Yorkshire plan to ensure North Yorkshire is not left behind in new PM Andy Burnham’s travel plans for the North.

Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, raised the matter in Parliament this week warning that any new West Yorkshire mass transit system that stopped at the combined authority boundary would let down residents who travel across the county on a daily basis.

With the annual Yorkshire Day on August 1, he called for a Yorkshire Parliament to be created.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the MP raised his views with Transport Minister Heidi Alexander, drawing on his own experience of growing up in West Yorkshire while attending college in North Yorkshire.

"Whether it's getting to work, college or a hospital appointment, nobody should find their journey harder because they cross an invisible administrative boundary,” said Mr Gordon.

"There's no point in a mass transit system that ends at the border when my constituents cross it daily. "

The Liberal Democrat MP called for "Transport for Yorkshire" to ensure mass transit is planned across county divides, not cut off by them.

Tom Gordon’s call builds on his ongoing campaign for a Yorkshire Parliament with joined-up powers over health, transport and education - so that decisions affecting the whole county are made for the whole county.

"We need a Yorkshire Parliament with real powers over transport, health and education; a policy that reflects our actual day-to-day lives in Yorkshire," he said.