Business case must be heard

Yet, while Ministers utter a series of platitudes about the need to create jobs to help rebalance the economy, the reality on the ground is very different.

It is why Mr Wilkinson's hard-hitting appraisal of Great Britain plc should be required reading for every Minister as they assess the impact of their spending cuts.

In an increasingly competitive global economy, Britain can no longer rely on its past reputation to encourage investors. It has to show, despite the credit crunch and the recession, that this is still a country where companies can do business.

Yet, while the well-off will, inevitably, have to pay more taxes, as exemplified by the child benefit controversy, it is important that the Treasury does not go too far and discourage wealth-creators – Mr Wilkinson is proud of the fact that his endeavours alone have created 7,000 jobs.

Equally, his warning about poor communication skills should be sent to every school in the country; it is a reminder that the abbreviated language used on popular social media websites can cause significant damage to a young person's future prospects if they use such phraseology in their professional careers.

It is why the Government has much work to do, particularly in those areas, like Yorkshire, that have become too dependent on the public sector. It has, finally, approved the first two Local Enterprise Partnerships for the area – but it will take far more than the reshaping of the delivery of regional policy to kickstart Yorkshire's economic recovery.

For these changes will count for nothing unless Ministers devise a series of business-friendly and job-creating policies that address many of the concerns expressed with such precision by Mr Wilkinson.