Where will the jobs come from?

As Chris Huhne pointed out yesterday, this has resulted in the new Government having to take some very tough decisions – and both parties having to renege upon promises that they made during the election campaign.

Yet what Mr Huhne, and others, fail to understand is the level of the public's unease about the manner in which the deficit is being cut, and whether the recovery in private industry will be able to create sufficient new jobs to sustain the economy, reduce the benefits dependency and help those public sector workers who are losing their jobs.

These concerns are reinforced by the continuing fallout from the winding up of Yorkshire Forward – and how the planned Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, launched by Lord Mandelson on the day that he announced a controversial 80m loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, could be the latest victim of the spending cuts.

The uncertainty is not surprising, given the number of Yorkshire Forward-backed projects that are now on hold. It is a growing list, according to the latest disclosures, that also includes the iconic York Minster and the nearby National Railway Museum.

However, the potential loss of the manufacturing centre is another scheme that denies this region a means to become less dependent upon the public sector in the future.

It also has the potential to help put Yorkshire at the forefront of the low carbon future – new energy sources will be critical in helping to keep Britain's lights burning and Mr Huhne, whether he likes it or not, is going to have to put the national interest before his anti-nuclear principles.

In the meantime, Mr Huhne and his colleagues need to do far more to show that they truly understand the economic difficulties facing the North. They need to start implementing the pro-business promises for the regions that David Cameron outlined on his two visits to Yorkshire as Prime Minister rather than allowing the public's anxieties to fester and, ultimately, create a far greater political crisis.