Tour de France will still "put Yorkshire on the map" despite Whitehall plot
6:26pm Tuesday 6th August 2013 in News
By Emily Flanagan, Reporter
A WHITEHALL plot to remove Yorkshire from the forefront of Tour de France branding won’t be a threat to its northern identity, says those behind the bid.
News this week that civil servants were attempting to rebrand next year’s Grand Depart in Yorkshire and present it as an English bid drew widespread disbelief across the county.
The Government had failed to back the Welcome to Yorkshire (WTY) bid to host the world’s greatest cycle race, instead backing a rival, £10m bid, which began in Scotland shortly before the referendum on Scottish independence and travelled through the North-East, North-West and Wales.
Soon after Tour de France officials announced the bid headed by WTY boss Gary Verity had been successful fears abounded that the Government would not provide any financial assistance.
Initially, Sports Minister Hugh Robertson refused funding to cover the race’s costs though the county, which was overruled the next day by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, who pledged £10m.
Now minutes of a top level meeting released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Whitehall officials want to elbow Yorkshire out of the picture and market it as an English event.
The documents revealed that UK Sport and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) originally asked the tourism agency Visit England to take over the marketing of the event and promote it as an “England” Grand Depart, despite the 2012 Olympics being marketed as the London Olympics.
The documents also showed that UK Sport advised the Government not to give public money to the event secured by Welcome to Yorkshire owing to the “financial and logistical viability of the plans”.
Today (Tuesday, August 6) the revelation were played down by Welcome to Yorkshire, who said they would continue to work with all their partners to put on an event that will “put Yorkshire on the map”.
A spokeswoman said: “All parties are committed to ensuring the race is a huge success for Yorkshire and for the rest of the country.”
Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith set up a cross-party group of Yorkshire MPs to liaise with Government ministers and other groups to ensure the event has as much backing as possible.
He said they would continue to work to ensure Yorkshire branding was at the forefront of the event’s marketing and said meetings he’s attended suggest the Government was fully behind Yorkshire being at the forefront.
