This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/11/david-cameron-yorkshire-people-hate-each-other-caught-camera

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Cameron caught making 'people in Yorkshire hate each other' jibe Cameron turns to Bird and Boycott for support over Yorkshire jibe
(about 3 hours later)
David Cameron has been recorded making a bizarre dig at people from Yorkshire, suggesting they hate each other as well as the rest of the country. David Cameron has claimed he was “absolved by two of the greatest living Yorkshiremen” after being caught joking that people from the county all hate each other.
The prime minister’s comment – which he has since said was a joke – was picked up by a microphone as he appeared to be rehearsing his lines while backstage at a speech in Leeds on Friday. The prime minister was recorded making the unguarded comment on Friday while discussing rival devolution bids from within Yorkshire. According to the BBC, during the conversation Cameron said: “We just thought people in Yorkshire hated everyone else – we didn’t realise they hated each other so much.”
On the recording, released by the BBC, he was discussing opportunities for devolution when an unidentified male voice says: “The fact is there will be some devolution coming to Yorkshire. But what form that takes ...” The Yorkshire Post said his “disdainful” remark was rooted in a “rather stereotypical and outdated view of Yorkshire”.
Cameron quipped back: “We just thought people in Yorkshire hated everyone else, we didn’t realise they hated each other so much.” After which, laughter can be heard. But Cameron has insisted that the former cricketer Geoffrey Boycott and umpire Dickie Bird both recognised it as a joke and believed most people would feel the same.
Downing Street has not explained the comments, but he was defended by Andrew Percy, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, who said Cameron was not “slagging off” the region because it was true that local politicians are “fighting like cats in a sack over devolution”. Speaking on BBC radio’s Test Match Special during a visit to Headingley, Cameron said: “I’ve been absolved by two of the greatest living Yorkshiremen. I repeated what I said to Geoffrey Boycott and Dickie Bird and they said: ‘It’s a joke, that’s absolutely fine.’”
Later, Cameron claimed the remark was “a total joke, but it’s been picked up and I expect I will be getting a bit of gyp for this”. He was later pictured alongside Yorkshire cricket club president and former umpire, Dickie Bird, and Geoffrey Boycott, the former England and Yorkshire opening batsman, watching England’s one-day international against Australia at Headingley. Explaining the incident, he said: “One of my aides had said to me that there were five or six different bids from Yorkshire for devolution, different ideas from different parts of Yorkshire. I joked, saying that I thought Yorkshiremen had it in for everyone else but not for each other – or words to that effect. It was a total joke but it’s been picked up and I suspect I will be getting a bit of gyp for this.”
Speaking on BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, the prime minister said: “I was picked up saying something this morning which wasn’t meant to be heard – there were five or six proposals for devolution in Yorkshire, and I said to an aide that I thought Yorkshiremen had it in for other people rather than each other, clearly as a joke. But I’ve been absolved by two of the greatest living Yorkshiremen – Geoffrey [Boycott] and Dickie Bird both agreed it was a joke.” Downing Street has not explained the comments, but Cameron was defended by Andrew Percy, the Conservative MP for Brigg and Goole, who said the prime minister was not “slagging off” the region because it was true that local politicians are “fighting like cats in a sack over devolution”.
Cameron’s comments are likely to have been a reference to the devolution deals offered by George Osborne’s “northern powerhouse” scheme.Cameron’s comments are likely to have been a reference to the devolution deals offered by George Osborne’s “northern powerhouse” scheme.
The Leeds city region, which is bidding to join Manchester in getting new devolved powers, is controversial. A deal would also cover York and other parts of rural North Yorkshire, which have distinctly different regional identities to the West Yorkshire city. In the Leeds city region, which is bidding to join Manchester in getting new devolved powers, it is controversial. A deal would also cover York and other parts of rural North Yorkshire, which have distinctly different regional identities to the West Yorkshire city.
This week, North Yorkshire county council put a spanner in the works of the bid, effectively refusing to allow towns under its remit to be part of the Leeds City Region. This week, North Yorkshire county council put a spanner in the works of the bid, effectively refusing to allow towns under its remit to be part of the Leeds city region. Peter Box, the leader of Wakefield council and chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said Cameron’s comment was a joke.
Peter Box, leader of Wakefield council and chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said Cameron’s comment was a joke. Box, who is involved in the devolution bid from Leeds city, said: “He was using the fact that there were so many bids from Yorkshire to try to make a joke.
Box, who is involved in the devolution bid from the Leeds City Region, said the joke stemmed from the high number of devolution bids entered from across Yorkshire. He said: “He was using the fact that there were so many bids from Yorkshire to try to make a joke.” “There is rivalry between Yorkshire. There’s always been rivalry. The reason I found it quite amusing is there’s some truth in it. We’re quite tribal, we’re competitive within Yorkshire, let alone with the rest of the country.
“There is rivalry between Yorkshire. There’s always been rivalry. The reason I found it quite amusing is there’s some truth in it. We’re quite tribal, we’re competitive within Yorkshire, let alone with the rest of the country,” he added.
“I’m a Yorkshireman, I’m proud of being from Yorkshire, I think we’re the best county in the world, but I’m not going to criticise David Cameron over what was meant to be a joke.”“I’m a Yorkshireman, I’m proud of being from Yorkshire, I think we’re the best county in the world, but I’m not going to criticise David Cameron over what was meant to be a joke.”
Jon Trickett, the Labour MP for Hemsworth, said Cameron appeared tohave mistaken Yorkshire plain-speaking for people hating each other, when it fact there is a huge sense of community and friendliness. He said there also seemed to be “a bit of snobbery” about the remarks. Jon Trickett, the Labour MP for Hemsworth, said Cameron appeared to have mistaken Yorkshire plain-speaking for people hating each other, when in fact there is a huge sense of community and friendliness. He said there also seemed to be “a bit of snobbery” about the remarks.
“He’s talking about Yorkshire as if it was somewhere alien rather than part of his own country,” he said. “He’s talking about Yorkshire as if it was somewhere alien rather than part of his own country,” he added.
Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North and shadow Home Office minister, said: “I think the whole problem with the devolution debate is that Whitehall has imposed the idea of an elected mayor as the only structure you can have. Mary Creagh, the shadow development secretary and former Labour leadership contender, said Cameron’s comments were “like the lord of the manor sneering at the serfs”.
“It’s David Cameron’s doing that. There’s different views in Yorkshire about the moment about what we would like to do. If we were really given a free hand, we might come up with something really interesting and good for Yorkshire. “He has already been no friend of the north and the mask has slipped,” she said. “The tone was wrong and actions speak louder than words. It will have come as no surprise to my constituents in Wakefield who have borne the brunt of policies for a long time.”
“I think people will think it’s typical David Cameron who doesn’t understand about areas in the north. They will just put it down to that. It reinforces the view that he doesn’t really understand the north. Some people will take it as a bit of a joke but I think underlying it says something.” Opinion was mixed among other prominent Yorkshire figures on whether Cameron’s comments might have some essence of truth.
Mary Creagh, Labour MP for Wakefield, shadow international development secretary and former leadership contender, said Cameron’s comments were “like the lord of the manor sneering at the serfs”. Charlie Webster, the Sheffield-born sports presenter for the BBC and Sky Sports, said: “Of course, there is absolutely rivalry between cities in Yorkshire. At matches we’ll shout ‘Dirty Leeds’ and they’ll shout back about Sheffield. That’s part of being from Yorkshire.
Creagh added: “He has already been no friend of the north and the mask has slipped. He cut councils spending in the most deprived places in the north and Midlands ten times more than the least deprived, and cancelled rail electriciation. “But another part is us all sticking together, proud of being from the best place on Earth, from God’s own county. So the comments are a bit of a laugh, but the way he said it doesn’t make it sound like much of a joke.”
“There are now difficult questions around devolution and ones where the government ought to be providing leadership. The tone was wrong and actions speak louder than words. It will have come as no surprise to my constituents in Wakefield who have borne the brunt of policies for a long time.” Others said they thought the comment betrayed how little connection the prime minister had with the county. “A joke’s a joke but he has a tendency of talking about parts of the country like they’re alien concepts,” said Alan Lane, the artistic director of Leeds’ award-winning Slung Low theatre.
“The idea that he’s surprised that Yorkshire – a place that contains areas as disparate as Hull, Richmond, Bradford and York – might have more than one idea of how it might devolve power is just another indicator of how little this chap knows about the nation he leads.”
The BBC radio presenter Stephanie Hirst, born in Barnsley, denied that rivalry could be equated with hatred. “Of course there are rivalries. But I am really disappointed in these comments because hate is a very strong word. I can only think he hasn’t been here very much. This is a beautiful county with beautiful people.”