No confidence in the economy

It is ironic, then, that the former Deputy Prime Minister – one of the few individuals to have reached the top in both politics and business – is now forcing the Government to devolve unprecedented powers on economic growth to cities and wider regions.

His championing of Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull and the other great cities of the North led to George Osborne embracing 81 of the 89 innovative ideas that Lord Heseltine set out in his No Stone Unturned report – though it remains to be seen whether the Treasury will provide the means for this blueprint to be implemented.

It also needs remembering that the fledgling local enterprise partnerships and city-region concepts, intended to replace regional development agencies like Yorkshire Forward, have been set up from a standing start and that it will take time for them to achieve the greatest results.

It is this waiting game, coupled with the new difficulties afflicting the Eurozone after the Cyprus cash crisis, which is contributing to the lack of confidence now enveloping the UK, far more so than Lord Heseltine’s belief that Britain lacks a “national will” because wealth-creators are already rich enough.

Britain has a proud record when it comes to innovation and, if the opportunity is sufficiently enticing, an entrepreneur will seize the initiative. This mindset needs to be cherished in an evolving global economy with China, India and Brazil at its vanguard. The problem is that successive governments (and the current Tory administration is no exception) have chosen to demonise the well-off, even though these are the people who have the potential to create the jobs of tomorrow, while business leaders still complain that new companies face too many obstacles.

If there was more confidence in the coalition, the outlook might be slightly more encouraging than this endless cycle of doom and gloom. Perhaps Lord Heseltine should move his personal office from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to the Treasury.