THE call by Shipley MP Philip Davies and Keighley MP Kris Hopkins for their constituencies to breakaway from Bradford Council and be run by a separate local authority is not one we can support.

Yes, it is possible to see their arguments that many of their constituents do not see an even return on the monies they contribute to the running of the Council.

But surely every successful district has to have the better off supporting the less well off to prevent an unacceptable chasm between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ which would cause long-lasting and possibly, irreparable, damage to the very fabric of society.

And that premise would continue to be the case if Mr Davies’ and Mr Hopkins’ plan was to become reality as the richer inhabitants of Ilkley, for example, would be expected to subsidise the poorer areas of Keighley and Shipley.

The two MPs accept that splitting off from Bradford will make the city poorer but they argue that this could actually be of benefit as increasing poverty could enable the city to attract more taxpayers’ cash to prop it - again something which appears to go against the very principle of their original argument.

Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe, as you would expect, is dead set against the MPs’ call and rightly points out that creating another authority will be both expensive and divisive.

At a time when the Government is urging local authorities to do whatever they can to share resources to cut costs, it seems highly unlikely that this proposal will attract its support.

Let’s hope that is the case.