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Responding to the Downturn and Planning the Future Economy

The hon. Member for Shipley is obviously faster on his feet than I am, because I wanted to intervene on the issue of Yorkshire Forward. I would like a share of that fiefdom myself. In my view, Yorkshire Forward was responsible not only for help during the downturn but for making companies healthy beforehand. It was responsible for helping the 24 per cent. of companies that are in the manufacturing sector to stay healthy. It helped them not to be part of the past, old-fashioned way of doing business, and brought them forward, for example by putting money into the textile centre and investing in technical textiles. It put millions into technical textiles with Leeds university, and put money into the Huddersfield Textile Centre of Excellence. Yorkshire Forward has been value for money.