The future is in our classrooms

So it is worrying that the Conservatives are talking about future road, rail and education projects being affected, as the coalition considers slashing spending by up to 40 per cent.

Yorkshire needs a high speed rail network fit for the 21st century and this means a "Y shaped" route, linking both Leeds and Sheffield to London, yet the coalition agreement talks only of establishing a "truly national high speed network".

These Yorkshire cities already have the attractions, economic, artistic and sporting, but getting here via road or rail can still, at times, be a miserable experience.

David Cameron pledged to protect health spending, because the Tories needed to counter accusations of an anti-NHS attitude, which could postpone vital bureaucratic reforms Labour failed to carry out, but that means other Government departments will be hit

more heavily.

Education, clearly, is one of these, with major infrastructure projects in Yorkshire at risk despite the fact the department is set to avoid the deepest cuts.

This risks storing up problems for the future, however. The quality of secondary education on offer, despite years of investment, is already very patchy and cancelling projects for new school buildings and equipment only jeopardises standards further.

Building Schools for the Future was designed because of the crumbling state of much of Britain's education infrastructure. This is not something that should simply be axed in a matter of weeks and it would be grossly unfair if Yorkshire, having been hit by under-investment for decades, again misses out.

Unlike businesses which have seen their hopes of grants disappear, schools cannot simply turn to the private sector for further investment. They depend on the State for help and had made plans on the basis they would get it. Few people doubt the need to make cuts but Britain's future should not be thrown away with the stroke of a Ministerial pen.

The dire economic inheritance left by Labour inevitably means the coalition has to think the unthinkable. Sometimes, however, it is braver to step back from the brink rather than boldly throw oneself over the edge.