PRIME Minister Theresa May’s early attitude to the Northern Powerhouse idea didn’t appear very enthusiastic.
She certainly didn’t back it wholeheartedly and her appointment of the MP Andrew Percy as the Northern Powerhouse Minister came almost as an after thought to the majority of her ministerial moves.
The fact he has a portfolio of other ministerial roles too didn’t bode well and you couldn’t exactly call him a political heavyweight.
He’s probably about as well known in his constituency of Brigg and Goole as he is in Parliament.
There was welcome news this week of a cash injection of £556m for the Northern Powerhouse project.
The money, which will be allocated to Local Enterprise Partnerships across the North of England but there did seem to be a lot more heading to the North West ahead of Yorkshire.
The new funding was announced by the Prime Minister Theresa May at the same time as a new industrial strategy.
I don’t think I was born when we last had one of those.
Mrs May reiterated her belief, outlined the day she entered No 10, that there is a need to “drive growth across the whole UK”.
And while she has backed the Northern Powerhouse, I don’t think it will be the priority for her that it would have been if its creator, George Osborne, was still in government.
But that doesn’t worry me.
The North of England has become very self sufficient and certainly doesn’t sit waiting for handouts.
The Local Enterprise Partnerships, with very little early funding, have become effective organisations which blend both the public and private sector.
They have earned the right to be the ones that know where to invest and distribute central government funds within their own regions.
And the enthusiasm of business people within these regions is plain to see.
I chaired a Northern Powerhouse round table discussion at the law firm Squire Patton Boggs in Leeds last week and the engagement of those around the table was energising.
The discussion was under Chatham House rules, which means off the record, and it encouraged some blunt, frank and very creative views to be expressed by the senior business leaders around the table.
It also enabled Leeds City Council leader Tom Riordan to give an update on what regional devolution might look like in Yorkshire.
Whether it encompasses the whole of Yorkshire or focuses on city regions like Leeds and Sheffield, what everyone is agreed on is that it has to happen soon otherwise Yorkshire will miss out on further government funding and opportunities.
In his summing up of the event, John Alderton, office managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs, reflected the positivity and determination we had heard during the discussion, but also a note of realism that there is much work ahead.
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THE Yorkshire Post ran a poll on its website this week asking readers the burning question: ‘Will Donald Trump as President be good for Yorkshire?’
It reminds me of a story I once heard which may be apochryphal but which I want to believe.
It concerned the Bradford Telegraph & Argus newspaper’s coverage of the sinking of the Titanic.
The headline read: “Bradford man lost at sea.”
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I JOINED 50 lively characters at the annual beano organised by the owners of the Foundry restaurant in Leeds on Wednesday this week.
Phil Richardson and Shaun Davies put on a hearty lunch accompanied by fine Rioja from the Luis Alegre vineyard in Spain and a great singer whose tribute act manages to morph from Johnny Cash to Neil Diamond to Elvis in a rhinestone jumpsuit.
The do is a bit of a thank you to regulars of the restaurant and how early you get your invitation is dependent on how popular you are with the management and how many times you visit the restaurant over the previous 12 months.
So when Phil rang to invite me at 11.15am on Wednesday morning I was delighted to attend.
It was good to see Steve Ridealgh, another talented restaurateur who runs Brasserie 44 and Martin Pickles, formerly of the Flying Pizza, now involved in an exciting new Mediterranean restaurant which opens soon at Weetwood Hall Hotel in Leeds.
Given the restaurant owners of the Foundry are Leeds United fans, many of their patrons share a similar passion.
And with a few great sporting names in attendance such as Peter Lorimer, Terry Yorath and Eddie Gray plus Scottish striker John Hendrie and Yorkshire cricketer Ryan Sidebottom, there was plenty of lively banter.
The plight of Phil and Shaun’s beloved club in recent years has meant the traditional playing of Marching on Together has sounded more like a funeral dirge than Leeds’ national anthem.
However it was sung with gusto, even by this Derby County fan, who thought he better show some respect to his hosts’ hospitality.
But I sang too soon.
Given I don’t support Leeds Phil had seated me next to ‘Big Jim’, a great grandfather who has a colourful past fighting the good fight on behalf of the Mighty Whites.
He asked me if I was a Man United fan.
I proudly answered no, and told him I supported Derby.
“I hate Derby. I had a good fight there once though,” he said wistfully as happy memories of times past came flooding back.
I felt the onset of indigestion and I’m sure it wasn’t the Foundry’s excellent food.
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I’M trying to find someone to have an argument with about Donald Trump.
But everyone I talk to appears to share similar views to my own.
Did you see the inauguration speech with its bleak language and gung ho ‘America first’ platitudes?
“Yes I know,” is invariably the answer.
Did you see that he has picked a fight with the press about the size of the crowds at the ceremony and one of his representatives has presented “alternative facts” to support his argument.
“Yes I know.”
Did you see that he has said he will destroy Islamic State and eradicate gang violence in American inner cities?
“Yes I know.”
Did you see that he is intending to carry out his pledge to build a wall on the Mexican border and he’s in favour of torture?”
“Yes I know.”
Donald Trump has polarised opinion in this country. It is not so much for and against as most British people who listen to him just shake their heads in disbelief that this is the man Americans have entrusted with running their country.
I say I can’t find anyone in favour of the new President.
There is a retired PR man in Wetherby that professes to support Trump, but I think his support is based less on a reasoned assessment of his policies and more on the fact that he once posed in a ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap on the Trump National Doral golf course in Miami.
He keeps the photo on the wall of his downstairs toilet. Next to the one of Sarah Palin, that other great political intellectual of the American right.
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WOMEN workers have been told to dye their hair blonde, wear revealing outfits and constantly reapply make-up, a study into workplace dress codes has found.
The “troubling” experiences suffered by female staff were unearthed by a parliamentary report published this week into the case of a woman sacked for not wearing high heels.
The story of London receptionist Nicola Thorp who was sent home from work after refusing to wear high heels, made headlines last year and led to 150,000 signing a petition in protest at her treatment.
An inquiry by the Women and Equalities Committee in the House of Commons said that it is clear that this was not an isolated incident.
And I have clear evidence to back that up.
I was only talking to a woman this week in her place of work who complained to me that she was forced to wear high heels, revealing outfits and lots of make up.
I was outraged by such a sexist approach by her employer and have written to the management of the Purple Door in Leeds to complain.
Have a great weekend.
Still a big fan of Trump David. I’ll have an argument about him with you anytime. He’s done more for America in a week than the empty suit before him did in 8 years
Suggest we do battle sadly not at Doral but at Pannal – will call you!