Roads shoulder spending cuts

This approach has already been effective around Birmingham – and its implementation locally might have assuaged those who believe that this

region's poor transport infrastructure is, potentially, damaging the area's future business prospects.

Even though it would not have been a long-term substitute for the

widening of the M1 and M62, or sustained investment in public transport, it would, at least, offered commuters some respite.

Yet, inevitably, there are now concerns that the hard shoulder plan will fall victim to the spending squeeze – especially as transport is likely to be one of the biggest casualties because of the Government's decision to prioritise other policy areas.

That may be so. But it does nothing to uphold David Cameron's view, expressed so forcibly in Shipley at the end of May, that his Government intends to rebalance the economy and encourage investment in the North. It is difficult to see how this will be achieved if infrastructure spending continues to be skewed in London's favour.

If Mr Cameron is so committed to the regions, why does he not scrap London's costly Crossrail scheme – and divert money to transforming road and rail links along the M62 corridor between West Yorkshire and Manchester?

After all, this latest threat comes in the week that the Government announced that the 200m plan to create a new transport hub in London for the 2012 Olympics will be completed by the end of the year, an announcement that will not endear Ministers to weary Yorkshire travellers.

But, more pertinently, the Government needs to recognise that doing nothing is not a sustainable option, and the deferral of transport schemes will only make matters worse in the longer-term.