Jarvis just a frontman for council leaders

We are often told how heavy a workload MPs have (particularly whenever the question of how much they should be paid comes up) so it would be impossible for them to give the requisite time to their Mayoral duties.

It has always been obvious that Dan Jarvis is merely Steve Houghton’s and Ros Jones’ frontman – put up to advance their agenda of a Yorkshire-wide Mayor.

Fielding him was as cynical a tactic as their decision to hold ballots in Barnsley and Doncaster (with their, predictably, risible turnouts). Michael Dugher has now admitted that Dan Jarvis intended to campaign in Parliament for the whole-Yorkshire option – which, Dugher claims, is “what everyone wants”.

Unfortunately for him, “everyone” doesn’t include the people of Rotherham and Sheffield who don’t want to be dictated to from Leeds or, even worse, Barnsley (population 91,000).

Paul Kenny

S3