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19
Jul
‘No doubt’ Andy Burnham can deliver for rural North Yorkshire, says mayor
The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire says he has “no doubt” that Andy Burnham will be able to deliver for rural areas in the region.
Speaking at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate this week, Labour’s David Skaith said Mr Burnham knows the challenges that rural communities face and the “strings that are attached” to metro mayors who are trying to tackle them.
Mr Burnham, who is due to be confirmed as Prime Minister on Monday, has received the backing of Mr Skaith on his road to 10 Downing Street.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret after launching his £1 million rural action plan at this year’s show, Mr Skaith said he felt that the former Labour Greater Manchester mayor had a handle on the issues facing rural areas, such as food security.
He said:
I have absolutely no doubt. If you heard the speech he gave in Manchester, he spoke about rural communities and he spoke about food security. It’s something that I have been banging the drum about for the last two years now.
Mr Skaith launched his rural action plan on Tuesday (July 14) at the Great Yorkshire Show in a speech at show’s Agri-innovation Village.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, pictured at the Great Yorkshire Show.
The plan, which is backed with £1 million in funding, aims to tackle problems facing the rural areas, including housing, ”mobile blackspots” and food.
When asked if he was confident that the soon to be Prime Minister could help to deliver on those issues, Mr Skaith said Mr Burnham knew what was holding metro mayors back.
He said:
We always talk about defence security and energy security, but we are talking about food security. That’s vital for our region and nationally.
There is also the emphasis around place-based devolution. We are devolved a lot of powers as mayors, but it has still got a lot of strings attached. Andy knows the challenges around that and I have got no doubt he can take that away and make sure we can deliver for York and North Yorkshire the plans that work best for us.
Mr Skaith has made no secret of his backing for Mr Burnham, taking a front row seat for his speech at the People’s History Museum on June 29 and hailing it “incredible”.
The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire also backed the former Labour Greater Manchester mayor on the streets of Makerfield by knocking on doors and canvassing for him in a recent by-election.
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