Michael Heseltine says he would give his 'eye teeth' to be the metro mayor for all of Yorkshire

The Conservative grandee told an online debate that mayors like Tracy Brabin and Dan Jarvis needed to "get off their butts" and start being more vocal about central government dominating decision-making.

And he said the current "fragmented" approach to devolution in Yorkshire was a poor substitute for a single mayor for the region of 5.3 million people, a proposal already rejected by the Government last year.