Region left in the dark

This was highlighted by the Chancellor's assertion that Britain will be on "the road to ruin" without painful spending cuts and tax rises; he was, effectively, paving the way for a statement which has far greater scope than the Tories indicated during the election.

Yet, while Labour's legacy offers political cover to the new coalition Government, Mr Osborne must also act in the national interest – whether it be cutting spending in a way that does not jeopardise Britain's faltering recovery, or tackling those long-term policies that were ignored by the previous administration.

When the Government, controversially, withdrew an 80m loan facility to Sheffield Forgemasters, it was argued, by some, that the coalition was being driven by Liberal Democrat Ministers sceptical about nuclear power's merits.

However, this viewpoint is rendered redundant by today's revelations that a 60m fund to help turn the Humber ports into wind turbine manufacturing centres, creating thousands of new jobs, could also be under threat because of the desire of Ministers to act swiftly over the budget deficit. Ministers need to understand that the country is facing an energy crisis – and that it urgently needs new power sources, whether driven by nuclear or renewable energy, to keep the lights burning. This is why so many people believe the Sheffield Forgemasters decision was so short-sighted; governments have to look at the wider picture.

Equally, the refusal to honour the Forgemasters loan, coupled with the Government's reluctance to back publicly Yorkshire's offshore wind power plans, also undermines Mr Osborne's promise to introduce measures to make it easier for investors to create jobs in the English regions.

If both of the schemes had been given the green light, the new administration would have shown that it was truly committed to this region – and solving the energy crisis. Instead, everyone has been left in the dark about its future intentions.