Another U-turn?

Chancellor George Osborne seemed to agree, describing it as offering a “compelling vision” for the rejuvenation of struggling economies outside London.

So it is welcome news indeed that the Government has said that it has accepted, at least in part, the vast majority of the Tory peer’s recommendations – 81 of the 89 he put forward,

However, it is also puzzling, not to say deeply concerning, that on the eve of a Budget that it was hoped would be used to rubber-stamp the proposals, there are growing concerns that the Treasury will seek to water down the recommendations it made in terms of the scale of Whitehall funding that should be devolved to Yorkshire and other regions.

Where Lord Heseltine envisioned a total of some £80bn being set aside to be spent on such key areas as housing, training and infrastructure, there are murmurings that the actual sum that will be committed will fall some way short of that figure.

While it is understandable that Mr Osborne should be feeling under pressure from departments desperate to protect their budgets as the Government once again looks to make a dent in the deficit, it would amount to a shabby betrayal of Lord Heseltine’s bold yet shrewd vision if it were to emerge in what would essentially be a hollowed-out form, with insufficient clout to deliver the long-term benefits he envisaged.

Given the Chancellor’s habit for Budget-related U-turns, however, perhaps we should not be too surprised if this indeed proves the case.