Dr Peter O’Brien
Today’s sad news about the death of the former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has elicited tributes from across the political spectrum. Although born in North Wales, John Prescott was synonymous with Hull and with Yorkshire. As a graduate of the University of Hull, and a student at Ruskin College, Oxford, he was a huge advocate of widening opportunity and increasing social justice through education, training and learning. He also had a deep commitment to tackling the causes and impacts of regional inequalities and disparities, and to protecting the environment. Themes that form part of the core mission and strategy of Yorkshire Universities (YU).
In 1999, I began my PhD at Newcastle University, where I was based at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies. At that time, the New Labour Government was rolling out its devolution programme in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and London, and its regional governance architecture was taking root in England. It was a heady time of policy evolution and implementation, to a large degree informed by the work of the former Scottish Secretary and EU Commissioner for Regional Policy and Cohesion, Bruce Millan, who had published a ‘blueprint’ for a future Labour Government’s regional policy. Another of Yorkshire’s political figures, Richard Caborn, was intimately involved in this work.
After completing my doctoral studies, I was fortunate to meet John Prescott in my role as a Policy Officer for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) working in the North East of England. The Deputy Prime Minister was leading the case for elected regional government in England, and the North East was set to hold a referendum on 4 November 2004. The Regional TUC backed the Yes Campaign for an Elected Assembly. Whilst the No Vote went on to win at the ballot box, the idea of sub-national devolution in England, albeit using alternative approaches, and different geographical scales, gained currency, on a cross-party basis, later through the mechanisms of Mayors and Mayoral Combined Authorities.
Following the end of plans to establish regional government in England, the Northern Way – a John Prescott-led collaboration between the three northern Regional Development Agencies – designed to focus on cross-northern issues, such as transport infrastructure, and trade and investment, took greater hold. Tasked with addressing the £30 billion output gap between the north and the average for England, the Northern Way gave impetus to the ‘concept’ of city-regions, and it lay the ground for George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse.
Earlier this week, the YU Board met with business and political leaders to discuss the new Manifesto for the North, the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission Action Plan, Devolution in Yorkshire, and YU’s work to help attract and retain Graduate Talent in the region. Issues that would, to a large degree, have reflected John Prescott’s policy interests. He thought and cared deeply about the fundamental economic, social, and environmental challenges we face. In a tribute today, Professor Dave Petley, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull, and Chair of the YU Board, writes that John Prescott remained a great friend of the University, and an advocate for the region. And Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, has said that Yorkshire has lost one of its great political heavyweights. A true Northerner with unwavering authenticity.
Sentiments that many of us would agree with.
