YP Comment: Why Ministers must show steel. Economy and energy policy link

“The Government is better placed than ever to work with project owners, investors and the supply chain to ensure effective and timely delivery of our infrastructure priorities. Working together we can achieve these goals and grow our economy,” they stated.

If only this was the case. For, as this document reveals, major energy and transport projects in the UK, and long championed by the Government, are intrinsically linked to the production of UK steel – production which can no longer be guaranteed as this industry fights for its future.

On the last day of production at Ferrybridge C Power Station, another great symbol of Yorkshire’s engineering and energy heritage, Britain’s increasing inability to take control of its own energy and manufacturing policy cannot be ignored any longer.

Mr Osborne talks fondly of his “long-term economic plan”, but still needs to realise that a sustainable energy policy is integral to keeping the lights burning and ensuring, for example, that energy-intensive companies do not have to halt production at times of peak demand.

This is certainly not the case in China, which the Chancellor is so fond of visiting – its over-supply of steel, and the impact of this on global markets, is one reason why Redcar’s steelworks closed last October and why thousands more jobs are now on the line in Yorkshire, Port Talbot and elsewhere as India-based Tata looks to offload its UK business. The sooner Mr Osborne and the Government show some steel and realise that economic growth, energy policy and steel production are mutually dependent, the better.

Cars versus cyclists. No road user should be above law

AS the cycling capital of the country after the successful staging of the Grand Départ two summers ago, and emergence of world-beating cyclists like Otley’s Lizzie Armitstead, it should be a source of pride that there is now a record number of bike riders on the region’s roads.

Yet, while the majority of motorists and cyclists are totally respectful of other road users, there’s a small minority of irresponsible drivers and bike riders whose selfish recklessness pays no regard whatsoever to edicts set out in the Highway Code.

This goes to the crux of the issue highlighted by celebrity lawyer and motorists’ champion Nick Freeman who discovered, via a Freedom of Information request, that just 17 bike riders were issued with fines by West Yorkshire Police last year for safety breaches as he accused officers of ignoring lawbreaking cyclists.

Again context is key. There are far more vehicles, than bicycles, on the roads and it is far easier to use CCTV cameras and so on to identify careless drivers rather than anonymous riders who ignore red lights or hold up the traffic. The police have only so many officers who can enforce the law at any time. Yet, to avoid any misapprehension that motorists are being unfairly penalised, one way forward is for the many cycling clubs using Yorkshire’s highways and byways to lead by example and actually stop riders that they spot flouting the law. If this happened, and a greater onus was placed on cycle-proofing new roads from the outset, Mr Freeman’s view would be less persuasive. After all, no road user, whether on two or four wheels, should be above the law.

A light entertainer. Ronnie Corbett is remembered

SMALL in stature, Ronnie Corbett was a giant of light entertainment who became a household name in a golden era of television when whole families would gather together to watch family favourites like The Two Ronnies. If only today’s so-called comedians had the same repartee that Corbett enjoyed with his sidekick Ronnie Barker, and which always culminated with their ‘Goodbye from him’ signing off sketch.

Like Corbett’s close contemporaries Sir Terry Wogan and Paul Daniels who have passed away in recent weeks, the comic creativity of all three meant they did not have to offend in order to entertain. That was their genius and why the tributes have been so heartfelt – their like will probably not be seen again.

Contrast this with today’s Saturday night reality TV shows which families watch in their own time on devices in separate rooms. It wouldn’t be like this if there were entertainers of the calibre of the three greats that have been lost to television and to the country.