Drive to secure greater powers for Yorkshire gathers pace

But the idea is not popular with everyone, with Conservative MP Philip Davies warning it could lead to an unaccountable group of local politicians treating the area as their "personal fiefdom".

As Scots took to the polls to decide their future yesterday, here in Bradford the debate was raging over how Yorkshire could also have a greater say over its own governance.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority met at City Hall to discuss how it was pressing for more powers.

The authority, which brings together the leaders of Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale, Kirklees and York councils, is sending a delegation to London next month to present Chancellor George Osborne with a list of devolution requests.

While this list is still being finalised, it is likely to include demands for greater powers over transport schemes and tax-raising, among other things.

Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green (Lab), backed the move, saying: "The ask has got to be ambitious."

But outside the meeting, the issue polarised the area's MPs.

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, said the last thing West Yorkshire needed was a "load of unaccountable Labour politicians treating it as their personal fiefdom".

Mr Davies said he had real concerns about how the Combined Authority was already spending its money, saying that "areas like Shipley never get a look in".

He said: "The last thing I'm going to support is these people - totally unaccountable to my electorate in Shipley - spending tens of millions of pounds on their grandiose schemes."

George Galloway, Respect MP for Bradford West, said he backed the idea of greater devolution, but was slightly sceptical about whether the general public was really calling for it in Yorkshire.

He said: "As far as I can see there has been no great demand here for greater powers, but that may change after the result of the Scottish referendum."

David Ward, Liberal Democrats MP for Bradford East, said he wanted to see greater devolution to English regions and said it would be "absolutely unbelievable" if this did not top the agenda after the Scottish referendum.

He said: "The genie is out of the bottle."

Stewart Arnold, of the Yorkshire Devolution Movement, said giving more powers to Combined Authorities around Sheffield and Leeds did not go far enough.

His group is campaigning for an elected assembly for Yorkshire.

He said: "These announcements miss the point that Yorkshire is more than the sum of its parts: cities, towns, villages and countryside.

"We have a clear sense of identity and community and have a population as big as Scotland."

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins (Con) and Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe (Lab) were unavailable to comment yesterday.