Building bridges

It is also why major councils are looking to form local economic partnerships that comprise around 10 local authorities. They realise that co-operation is the only way forward in these challenging times, and how working together can benefit all.

It is, therefore, disappointing that the tired old parochial politics of the past has returned, yet again, to the Humber, with Hull and East Riding Councils saying they do not want to form a LEP in conjunction with their counterparts on the South Bank.

Such blinkered thinking from politicians who should know better has not helped the Humber area in the past – it continues to be one of the most deprived parts of the country.

Yet the expanding ports, in particular Immingham, have the potential to offer vast employment opportunities for people in Hull and further afield, and even more so if the councils concerned can demonstrate that the extent to which the Humber Bridge tolls, a long-running and costly sore, are holding back the region.

That is why Hull and East Riding's leaders should cast aside the parochial politics of the past and consider, for once, the wider

economic picture.