Recently in Doncaster Category

So some cities have woken up to positive news this morning thanks to research by Centre for Cities but then some haven't.

Brighton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Cambridge and Edinburgh - are ranked as the top five centres "to watch" as the economy recovers because they have strong private sectors, high levels of entrepreneurship, highly educated workforces, and a large share of knowledge-intensive jobs to succeed after the recession.

But languishing at the bottom of the table and described as having "a tough outlook" are: Stoke, Burnley, Barnsley, Newport and Doncaster. Weaker business bases, loss of private sector jobs prior to the recession, and low business start ups are among the reasons given.

Not a great start to the week particularly for Yorkshire which has two towns in the bottom five: Barnsley and Doncaster. Neighbouring Humber city Hull also features heavily having had a large number of job losses.

I've never been to a Smith instute seminar before, so I wasn't quite expecting the frank and even slightly angry responses today from the audience at the House of Commons.

Gordon Brown's think tank held an event at what was otherwise an eerily subdued Parliament today to mark the publication of its the future of Yorkshire and Humber report.   

While the mainstay of media and politicians stayed away from Parliament ahead of state opening and the Queens speech tomorrow, committee room 15 was packed out with heads of local government and high ranking Yorkshire business men.

The audience listened politely while the speakers gave their opening speeches. The chair then threw the discussion out to the floor reminding everyone that it was Chatham House rules and all should feel able to talk freely.

He needn't have bothered. A barrage of criticism followed over local government's failure to secure the high speed rail link, which will now bypass Yorkshire completely on its route between London and Scotland. This quickly spilled over into Yorkshire's inability to put it's case forward to central government and its willingness to just accept defeat.

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