Yorkshire’s mayors have declared their recent trade trip to India a “no brainer” and say they will go “wherever we need to” to help the region.
The trio of leaders travelled to Hyderabad and Mumbai last month to promote Yorkshire’s business and education opportunities, signing a number of deals in the process.
However, questions have been raised over the cost of the trip to taxpayers, with the exact price yet to be revealed.
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said it was “100 times worth the cost of going”, while North Yorkshire’s David Skaith has pledged the price will be presented “in due course”.
Brabin and Skaith were joined by South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, with a view to showcasing Yorkshire to India “as one team”.
Deals signed include a health partnership with the IKP Knowledge Park in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley and a textiles agreement between the University of Huddersfield and the Indian Technical Textile Association.
India is the world’s sixth biggest economy, external, just behind the UK, and a new trade deal between the two countries started in July this year.
The government said the deal would be worth £170m to Yorkshire and the Humber, while exports from West, South and York and North Yorkshire to India more than doubled between 2021 and 2023 to about £770m a year.
But the question with these stories is how much do trips like this cost the taxpayer?
Brabin had already be quizzed by BBC Radio Leeds listeners about whether she would be turning left or right when she got on the plane to India.
She told them she had never flown business class as mayor.
