Crusaders for a Yorkshire parliament launched their campaign in York today.

Dr Chris Perring, watched by other delegates, is the first to put her name on the Claim of Right in York today. Picture: Garry Atkinson

The proposed Yorkshire flag

And they believe York would be the perfect place to site it, because of the city's proud past and central location.

The Campaign For Yorkshire claimed the region deserved its own separately-elected government.

Its campaign comes in the wake of Scotland getting its own parliament and the creation of a Welsh Assembly.

Campaigners said Yorkshire and the Humber could blaze a trail by being the first English region to follow suit.

They were out on the streets of the city today, collecting petition signatures to build support, and have advertised for a campaign director on a salary of £25,000.

They said Yorkshire and the Humber had a clear and distinct identity and could benefit from having its own "House of Commons".

Diana Scott, a director and trustee of the York-based Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and a member of the campaign group, said: "York is the right place for the parliament. I think - and members of the group think - that there is already too much rivalry between Leeds and Sheffield.

"York is conveniently located and of course has the history. Obviously in the end it would be up to the people of the region to decide."

Members of the ten-strong group, which includes Yorkshire academics and trade unionists, stressed they were not trying to cut the region off from the rest of the country.

A spokesman said: "We are pushing for a Yorkshire parliament, not a separate state. You wouldn't need a passport to enter."

Such a parliament would have powers to spend money granted by central government on areas such as transport and regeneration. It could also be given the authority to levy taxes on the region's citizens.

The campaigners believe issues such as safety and congestion on the A64 and improving the Harrogate to York railway line would get more sympathetic attention if decisions were taken locally.

But the group members, who say they are apolitical, received little support from York politicians today.

City of York Council leader Rod Hills branded the idea of a Yorkshire parliament "nonsense" while Simon Mallett, deputy chairman of the City of York Conservative Association, described it as an "expensive talking shop".

York MP Hugh Bayley said: "I favour a stronger voice for Yorkshire but we must guard against bureaucratic costs."

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