海角视频

Green has been the growth and is undoubtedly the future, but politics have brought the colour to the gills of many with a vested interest in the Humber economy.

The frictions from bringing two once great fishing communities together, the merger of white rose and yellow belly, have proven too much - finally. Almost half a century on and great strides made for business - and indeed 海角视频 Plc - have been made to ensure devolution can happen.

With the course set, Lord Haskins - the man who made Northern Foods a FTSE 100 success story, becoming Tony Blair鈥檚 trusted rural tsar, has stepped aside. He didn鈥檛 want to sail close to the icebergs, so he鈥檚 clearly not navigating round them after nine years at the helm.

鈥淚t is a shame,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously it is a political not economic decision, the government made the position clear it would prefer the Humber LEP to continue, but was not prepared to overrule the local authorities, and I can understand that.

鈥淭here is a long history. I came here more than 50 years ago, there was no Humber Bridge, we had dairies in Grimsby, and it was a day鈥檚 journey to get there. There was a long distance between them, and when we had government reorganisation (in 1974) it inflicted Humberside down people鈥檚 throats and they didn鈥檛 take kindly to it.

鈥淭here were cultural differences between Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, and it was all done a bit insensitively, and it got worse and worse and worse, and the legacy of that remains.鈥�

Prior to the arrival of LEPs following the change of policy with a new government in 2010, the previous Leeds-based quango was called Yorkshire Forward, failing to acknowledge the South Bank in title at all.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a political legacy, but the economics, and I talk to the bigger businesses, and they say the economics of the Humber are overwhelming,鈥� Lord Haskins said. 鈥淭he LEP has done a good job, and it is a shame it is going.

鈥淗aving to have elected mayors, that鈥檚 a particular problem, but they will still have to keep working together with the Humber as an economic entity.鈥�

An energy 鈥榯sar鈥� role looks set to follow for the son of an Irish dairy farmer, who was shrugged off criticism of his successor, former East Riding of Yorkshire leader Stephen Parnaby OBE.

鈥淲e have made Stephen Parnaby temporary chairman because recruiting someone into a temporary job is unfair,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e tried to recruit earlier on, and it was not very successful.

鈥淚 consulted with the board, who backed it unanimously. It is a temporary need for the Humber LEP, it has got to work with people who understand the ground rules.

鈥淗e has a business background, while leader of the local authority he had a lot of interest in business and is now a director of Wren Kitchens, possibly the largest private company in the estuary, with interests on both sides of the river.

鈥淚t has all been done above board. Across the board we have strong views from both sides of the Humber, we consulted major businesses and sought approval of the government minister Simon Clarke, who underpinned it and is very happy with it. We cannot do any more than that.

鈥淚t is a two-to-three year arrangement, we have two or three other members of the board who should be retiring having done nine years, and they too are going to be asked to stay on. We need experience during these crises, there are two crises, the general crisis about the Humber economy because of the political situation and the coronavirus crisis. We need experienced people.鈥�

Two to three years is quite an interim period, but it isn鈥檛 unheard of.

鈥淭here is a long way to go, they (South Bank local authorities) need to agree themselves what Lincolnshire they want, and on the North Bank, putting Hull and East Riding together won鈥檛 be easy.

鈥淚t is important in the meanwhile, particularly with the coronavirus crisis that Humber LEP continues to operate, the government has insisted it should operate at this crucial time, and that鈥檚 one of the reasons that made me decide to move aside. It could be two or three years, and I鈥檝e been doing it for nine years, and that鈥檚 plenty. Stephen has stepped up and he is well regarded.鈥�

So what will Lord Haskins鈥� tenure be well regarded for?

鈥淚 think we are clear at what we are good at,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Energy Estuary has taken off very well, and I can take some credit for that. The slogan was there, it was the first thing I saw when I took the job, it was a big idea, already a big idea, but we focused everyone鈥檚 attention on it.

鈥淚鈥檓 still disappointed we have not had enough local investment, but there鈥檚 plenty more in the pipeline still, it is not over yet, there is plenty more to do.

鈥淥ne of the things the government wants is to keep an all-Humber approach to these issues, it is not going to be easy to do, but bringing it together is a job.鈥�

Green Port Hull completed on watch, with the anchor tenant behind it also investing heavily further upstream.

鈥淭he two Siemens investments, with Goole probably the bigger one, these are substantial investments, records in any one site in the world, and that鈥檚 big stuff,鈥� he said.

The company has credited the Hull welcome with making Goole an easy decision, due to the attitude and appetite for economic investment.

鈥�Smith & Nephew, at the beginning, we thought might not stay here, but they have reinforced their position here and there are lots of other good things,鈥� Lord Haskins said.

鈥淲ren Kitchens, an outstanding local development; Orsted in Grimsby, has made the town a centre of activity for offshore wind operations and maintenance, it is great stuff.

鈥淭here are still lots of things to do. There are pockets of economic distress in Hull and Grimsby, and to a lesser extent in Scunthorpe. British Steel is still going, that鈥檚 an achievement. I thought that might have gone under, but as far as I can see it is surviving the crisis reasonably well.鈥�

There鈥檚 a third element for the Humber to deal with too - our extraction from the EU - a galling watch for a staunch remainer who arrived in England delighted to find an outward looking nation, settling on a river that is one of Europe鈥檚 closest ties.

鈥淏rexit hasn鈥檛 gone away,鈥� he said, returning to a subject he has not shied away from throughout the second half of a tenure it has dominated the agenda of.

鈥淚f the government 鈥榩resses on鈥� as it says it is going to, we have again the risk of no deal. I wish they鈥檇 use more temperate language, the more they say 鈥榩ress on鈥� the more we end up with a crunch and a climb down, and no-one likes to climb down.鈥�

From the archives: Lord Haskins' welcome interview with our man on the Humber from 2011.