BARROSO’S A PLAIN SPEAKER TOO NIGEL!

 

Nigel Farage believes in plain speaking. Well the UKIP leader now has a rival in that department. Manuel Barroso, the outgoing European Commission President has spelt it out for David Cameron as he seeks to appease UKIP over immigration.

 

An arbitrary cap on immigrants from eastern Europe would fall foul of the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 and the original Rome Treaty of 1957, Barroso said. So David Cameron would need a treaty change. The Polish ambassador to the UK has said Poland would veto such a change. Therefore Cameron would fail in the negotiations and would be under enormous pressure to campaign to come out of the EU. If he refused then Boris Johnson or the ambitious Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond would be eager to replace him and back a better off out campaign. Under those circumstances it is a racing certainty the British people would vote to come out.

 

I have believed for a long time that it is more likely than not that a referendum would lead to us leaving the EU, so it is time for business, small, medium and large to start speaking up and spelling out the serious consequences of our withdrawal for jobs.

 

Pressure is building up in the Labour Party for a switch in their position. It is one of the few principled stands that I admire Ed Miliband for. However MPs are in despair at his poll ratings and some want to grasp at offering an EU referendum in a desperate effort to improve their chances of winning next May. The close shave in the Heywood and Middleton by election has only added to the pressure. There is even talk of a northern Labour MP defecting to UKIP.

 

WE’RE NOT ALL IN CITY REGIONS!

 

The City Growth Commission this week increased the pressure on the government to give more power and money to city regions. The Chancellor is expected to make an announcement in the Autumn Statement. Greater Manchester is preparing a partial back down in its opposition to Mr Osborne’s demand for an elected mayor for the conurbation. They are set to name Lord Smith of Wigan as leader of the Combined Authority. It is far short of the directly elected accountability that the government rightly demand but it may be enough for now.

 

If the Chancellor hands over 90% of business rates to cities like Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, the vision of a northern powerhouse will begin to take shape. But what about the rest of the north? I was at an event in Lancaster this week where the economy of north Lancashire and Cumbria was under discussion. Places like Lancaster, Workington and Carlisle struggle to retain their talented youngsters who are drawn to the big cities. They also suffer from the scrapping of the regional spatial strategies that used to provide a framework for economic investment. Similar issues arise in North Yorkshire and the Humber.

 

So as we power up our big cities, we also need to convince the government that the whole North needs support from an overarching Council of the North

 

 

 

ELECTED MAYOR FOR GREATER MANCHESTER?

 

 

DEVOLUTION TURMOIL.

 

Manchester has firmly resisted the government’s backing for elected mayors, but that could be about to change. Tory sources at their conference in Birmingham were suggesting that in return for extra powers for the city region, Labour would concede the concept of an elected mayor for the Combined Authority.

 

The Scottish Referendum aftermath has sparked a feverish debate about how the North of England should be governed. On Merseyside it has caused a fresh outbreak of tension between Liverpool and Wirral. The city’s mayor Joe Anderson, denied the leadership of the Combined Authority by Wirral leader Phil Davies, declared that if the government was going to decentralise powers and fiscal responsibility “it would need to know that this is not being managed by a group of part time councillors who meet every four to six weeks.”

 

The Mayor claims that the Liverpool City Region is in danger of being left behind when the government devolves extra powers because the area views things through “the short-sighted prism of local politics”.

 

Wirral Council would see things differently and is spearheading a drive to widen the debate about how the whole of the North can benefit from devolution, not just the city regions.

 

It is very much in the interests of business investment and people’s welfare, that the North’s politicians representing both city regions and the large number of towns and rural areas in between can speak with a united voice on a complete blueprint for the future government of the north. If they can’t then the winners will be a more powerful Scotland and Borisland to the south!

 

TORIES UPBEAT.

 

The Conservatives left Birmingham in upbeat mood despite polling predictions that they can’t win May’s General Election.

 

They’ve decided to take UKIP on following the latest defection. Delegates delighted in telling me how ex Tory MP Mark Reckless had been chased out of a Rochester pub along with UKIP leader Nigel Farage by Conservatives angered by their former MP’s treachery.

This must be the right approach. There is no appeasing people who want to take us out of Europe. They must be opposed and the British people warned about the prospects for UK business outside the EU.

In an otherwise excellent speech, David Cameron laid a trap for himself over Europe by promising that the free movement of immigrants would be sorted. Free movement is an integral part of the free market and he will find it very difficult to get concessions when he goes into negotiations if he wins the election.

 

At a number of fringe meetings I attended, Tory delegates were advised that if the UK goes into the talks with threats and ultimatums, it will get nowhere. The better approach would be to find allies who want change as well and work with them.

 

Many Tory representatives felt it was the first really conservative speech David Cameron had made with no mention of gay marriage or green issues but plenty on tax cuts. Just how they will be paid for whilst fulfilling much delayed promises to bring the deficit down to zero remains to be seen. Also for all the signs of recovery, it is not being felt in the pay packets of people in the north.

 

That’s a message that Ed Miliband hopes will keep Heywood and Middleton out of the clutches of UKIP in Thursday’s by election.

 

 

IT’S GRAND UP NORTH !

ILKLEY MOOR BAR HELMET

What a week for the North of England! Pride of place must go to the people of Yorkshire for the magnificent response to the Tour de France. From Leeds to the wonderfully named Buttertubs and all locations in between they came out in their thousands. The effort that was put in to make sure that every mile was decorated with bunting and yellow painted bikes was truly impressive.

Let’s hope that the Dales tourist industry gets the legacy benefit it deserves. God’s Own Country was on show to the world and Yorkshire seized its opportunity. Manchester’s Commonwealth Games put that city on the map, Yorkshire deserves no less.

MONEY MONEY MONEY

Then there were the announcements of infrastructure support from the Regional Growth Fund for projects across the North. You can tell the economy is improving and an election is coming.

However the public sector strikes this week lends some support to Labour’s claim that not everyone is sharing in the recovery. Since 2010 public sector pay has gone up 6.7% whilst prices have risen by 16%. The UK deficit is £107bn and the National Debt £1.3 trillion.

But can Labour win the election by pointing this out or will they be seen either as moaning minnies at the party or be held responsible for past economic errors? The party’s efforts to win public support are not being helped by continuing internal criticism of Ed Miliband’s leadership.

NORTHERN REVOLUTION

So with the cycling and the extra cash why do we need a Northern Revolution? That question was explored at a Downtown conference where the Chief Executive of Manchester City Council gave a very frank interview to a frank interviewer called Frank.

In a straight talking session with Downtown’s CEO Frank McKenna, Sir Howard Bernstein called for the abolition of the Highways Agency, praised Liverpool’s port but not its airport, forecast that the issue of congestion charging would return in Manchester, claimed John Prescott never “got” his plan for the city and was happy to have a debate on an elected mayor for the Greater Manchester sub region.

The interview came in the wake of similar pledges from the Conservative and labour parties on devolution of money and powers to northern cities. Sir Howard felt the promises were for real this time. This was because Scotland would be getting more influence over its own affairs whatever happened in the independence vote and because national delivery models didn’t work.

On the concept of a linear urban powerhouse from Liverpool to Leeds, Sir Howard welcomed the expansion of Liverpool’s port facilities and the Omega development near Warrington. Manchester needed to concentrate on the Northern Hub which would also help with connectivity to Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.

He did not favour the recreation of a Northern Way organisation but admitted it had helped turn the regeneration of Piccadilly Station from a local project into one starting to properly connect the North through the Hub. However the spending on transport in London was still ten times that of the north and Sir Howard forecast that the £20bn Crossrail 2 would soon be approved.

On airports, Sir Howard was in no doubt that Manchester was unambiguously the North’s main air hub. He claimed that the surge in low cost flights at Liverpool Airport was “artificial” caused by Manchester taking its eye off the ball. The market would decide the role of Liverpool, Blackpool, Leeds and Doncaster. In the latter case, any bid for improved rail links would need to be evidence based. He said the plans for Airport City had been ahead of their time but would now provide an ideal location for global companies.

Voters rejection of plans for congestion charging in Manchester in 2008 had been a rare setback for Sir Howard and council leader Sir Richard Leese but the Chief Executive said the issue would have to be revisited. The city also needed another inner ring road.

He was highly critical of the way the Highways Agency failed to connect with local government and felt its powers should be given to organisations like Transport for Greater Manchester.

Up to now there has been scepticism about elected mayors from officers and politicians in Manchester, but when asked about the Chancellor’s backing for an elected mayor covering the Greater Manchester Combined Authority area, Sir Howard said it was not an unreasonable question. He forecast that with increased powers the model on relying on ten part time political leaders might not have a future. He felt the politicians would know when it was time for change but it must not be imposed from above. It also should not be based on the London model where the boroughs were not integrated with Boris Johnson.

It is no secret that Manchester resented John Prescott’s regional policy,.Sir Howard believed that the former Deputy Prime Minister never appreciated the city’s model for regeneration and resented the fact that local Labour politicians had worked with Tories like Michael Heseltine and Michael Portillo on schemes like Metrolink.

TORIES DISCOVER NORTH SHOCKER!

Having swept away all the organisations that were helping the Northern economy, the Coalition government has spent the last few years building them up again.

Although the patchwork of Local Enterprise Partnerships(LEPs), Mayoral Zones and Regional Growth Funds will never make up for the lost coherence of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in the North West and Yorkshire, there are signs that some LEPs are getting to grips with their task.

This is important as the Chancellor has signified this week that he may be getting serious about doing something to empower the North, sandwiched as it is between Scotland and London which both want for nothing in terms of government spending.

The Northern Way, which was the umbrella organisation for the northern RDAs, would have been the perfect organisation to deliver the trans Pennine HS3 rail link that George Osborne envisages. We will have to wait and see how the project is to be managed if this announcement is anything other than a smokescreen for the complete lack of a coherent policy for the North.

Another example of the government’s incoherence has been with elected mayors. First they wanted them just for cities and with no extra power. Now they want them for city regions with some real power and money.

Liverpool in particular could do with a city region mayor to bring democratic accountability to the LEP which has substantial achievements under its belt. A mayor who covered the whole sub region from Wirral to St Helens would also help solve the current impasse with the Liverpool Combined Authority (CA) of councils. This is caused by the fact that Phil Davies, the leader of Wirral, heads the organisation rather than the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson.

The government will have a tough job selling the concept of an elected mayor for the whole of Greater Manchester for a number of reasons. Manchester residents rejected the concept for their city, and there is already an elected mayor in Salford. Furthermore the LEP under chair Mike Blackburn, the Combined Authority under Lord Smith of Wigan and Manchester City Council led by Sir Richard Leese are already driving economic regeneration effectively.

The Liverpool LEP has an impressive record too, partly helped because it inherited the Mersey Partnership. It has 450 subscribing private sector members. Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics concerning growth rates shows Liverpool as ninth out of 39 LEPs in the UK.

Liverpool LEP is hoping to be allocated a good chunk of the £2bn Local Growth Fund to be announced soon and is coordinating the spending of 221 million Euros it has been allocated from European coffers.

Specific achievements include helping fibre optic company Tratos expand in Knowsley with the creation of 100 jobs. The LEPs Business Growth Grant will help create 2000 new jobs and the New Markets Programme, developed by the LEP is helping small businesses get a 35% subsidy for their growth plans. Meanwhile the Skills for Growth Bank, backed by the LEP has approved £2.5m for business growth.

The Liverpool LEP is headed up by Robert Hough who has patiently rebuilt an organisation to support business after being chairman of the North West Development Agency when it was swept away. A quietly efficient man who does not seek the headlines, his organisation’s profile might be improved if its boundaries were shared with an elected mayor for the same area.

Politicians bring campaigns and the media spotlight would then perhaps be turned on to the somewhat dry world of economic regeneration.

Personally I believe if the government wants city region mayors, they should legislate for them. There are enough referenda in the air at the moment.

In the meantime the Liverpool LEP will get on with the job of bringing employment to the City Region.