Speaking up for the regions

EVEN though the winding up of the regional development agencies could have been better handled, David Cameron’s government has been committed from the outset to narrowing the North-South divide.

Mr Cameron made the promise in Shipley after just three weeks in office, and this was reaffirmed when the Cabinet travelled to Leeds to launch Britain’s high-speed rail revolution.

The problem, as Nick Clegg discovered during his critique of a “London-centric business model”, is that the coalition does not have time on its side when it comes to countering the public’s view that the Government is still beholden to City tycoons in spite of the banking crisis.

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It will take two decades for the first HS2 trains to link Leeds and Sheffield with the capital, while the devolution of powers to city-regions and local enterprise partnerships, including the new Humber ‘city deal’ announced by Mr Clegg, will take time to make a difference.

This time-lag certainty does not help the coalition’s electoral prospects when families have seen their living standards compromised over the past five years because of stagnant wages and the extent to which the City’s financial failings rebounded on society.

Though the Deputy Prime Minister’s ambition was palpable when he outlined how Britain’s northern cities hold the key to rebalancing the national economy and lessening the UK’s over-dependence on the financial services industry, more should be done to unleash this potential.

While Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own devolved administrations, and respective Cabinet ministers, fighting their corner, England’s key cities still do not enjoy such status in the corridors of power – despite Yorkshire’s economy comparing favourably to Scotland. The minister responsible for growth, Greg Clark, does not sit in the Cabinet – and his Treasury duties also extend to regulating the City of London, a full-time job in itself. This anomaly needs addressing. For, without full-time leadership, the North-South divide will not narrow before the next election.