Entrepreneurship: Yorkshire holds key role in UK's economic diversity, says Premier

In his first major speech since taking office, the Prime Minister told an audience in Yorkshire that the region could play a key role in ensuring Britain's economy did not remain dependant on London and the South East.

Mr Cameron said the coalition Government's first priorities were to cut the deficit and get Britain back open for business.

The Tory leader pledged to achieve this by freeing the private sector from too much tax, regulation and Government interference.

He also warned Britain's banks that after being bailed out by billions of pounds from the taxpayer it was time for them to get credit flowing back into the economy.

The Government chose to set out plans for the economic reform at Salts Mill, in Saltaire, near Bradford, yesterday at the headquarters of television technology firm Pace – just named the world leader at selling set-top pay TV boxes.

Mr Cameron was accompanied by Business Secretary Vince Cable who told the audience that regional development agency Yorkshire Forward could remain in place because of its success. However RDAs elsewhere would be reformed in areas where business could flourish without their support.

The Prime Minister announced a new fast-track system for international patents to reduce a backlog which he said was costing the global economy 7.6bn a year.

He also set his Government the target of giving Britain the most competitive corporate tax system in the G20.

However there were no other initiatives in yesterday's speech and Mr Cameron refused to be drawn on questions over planned changes to Capital Gains Tax, which he said would be announced in next month's Budget.

Mr Cameron said George Osborne's emergency Budget on June 22, would give the country "a credible plan to live within its means" by removing the bulk of the deficit within five years.

Yesterday's speech focused on the principles underpinning the coalition Government's economic strategy.

Mr Cameron told his audience this would be built on three elements: Liberalising markets to cut tax and red tape, providing modern support to business and rebalancing the economy so all regions in the country could prosper.

"As someone who believes in the free market, it will not surprise you that I believe a big part of the previous Government's economic failure was their endless interference.

"The facts are clear. Britain's competitiveness has suffered in recent years with businesses ranking us 84th in the world for tax and 86 per cent for regulation," the Prime Minister said.

He also claimed that one of the most important changes was the Government's "one in one out" plan to stop the expansion of red tape. "Its simple: If you're a Minister who wants to bring in a piece of regulation, first you've got to find an existing one to get rid of.

"No one should underestimate how revolutionary this is. For a long time, the whole business of Whitehall has been about creating new regulations. This new rule completely blows that culture apart."

He cited the record of Margaret Thatcher along with the post-war economies of Germany and South Korea as examples of country's can transform themselves.

He said: "There is no such thing as economic destiny. We can transform our economy here. We can turn this around. We make the future ourselves.

"Instead of controlling business, we will free enterprise to compete. Instead of acting with short-term initiatives, we will think long-term about the modern support our economy needs.

"Instead of tolerating economic apartheid, we will give local people

the power and the freedom to build success from the bottom up.

"Let's make the next decade the most entrepreneurial and dynamic in our history – and let's do it together. All of us, across Britain, sharing in our prosperity."