In the third of our "#Cuts" series, today we look at how poor political decisions by the government will impact on jobs and the local economy. From the out set it has been clear that opposition to a Pan Humber LEP has been politically motivated. Opposition parties have suggested joining a Lincolnshire LEP, and have undermined efforts to produce a Humber wide LEP. Formation or membership of a Lincolnshire LEP would be totally inappropriate for the economic structure of North Lincolnshire and the Humber bank economies. While the main economy within Lincolnshire is agriculture, here in North Lincolnshire we rely on some agriculture but the majority of our jobs are in industry. When the bid was put together the Hull and Humber chamber of commerce were calling for a pan-Humber consortium, as where the majority of the major businesses in the region and the FSB. Businesses know that they can not make money if the region's falling out over politics, they know the sense it makes to work together as a region. Also very telling was that the bid was supported by 7 of the region's 9 MP's. Cllr Poole's previously enthusiastic support for a Pan-Humber agreement as spokesman for the local Federation of Small Businesses now shows more concern about being included in any form of LEP as opposed to one consisting of all counties in the Humber region. This is a difficult position for cllr Poole as leader of FSB and also an opposition councillor, he must be torn between doing the right thing for his FSB members and following the party line on the LEP agreement. This decision should not come as a shock however, as its typical of what the current government have been doing throughout their cuts process. We were told by the Government that we could decide who to work with as an LEP, and then when businesses do decide, we are told its not acceptable as it does not fit their political master plan. Some commentators in the local press have accused NLC of having tunnel vision on this matter but what's really happening is this: Firstly, Hull City Council is run by the Liberal Democrats, as is North East Lincolnshire; East Riding is under Tory control. Secondly, press releases from the local Tories demonstrate that these decisions are political, not economical. Thirdly, the other local councils are trying to turn voters in North Lincs against the current leadership at next May's election in favour of the ConDemocrat coalition. Clearly, It's totally unacceptable to play politics with peoples lives, jobs and the local economy; its to fragile, and businesses and workers need all the help they can get to succeed currently. A PAN Humber LEP simply must succeed, politics must be put to one side in favour of jobs and economic growth. We must be very clear in our mind's as to what's going on here as this is one of the key battlegrounds which will make or break the May 2011 elections. We spoke to Nic Dakin, MP for Scunthorpe about this earlier, and he told us that he had asked Vince Cable in the House how regions like the Humber where no LEPs had been agreed would be able to access regional growth funds and other monies like ERDF. Nic told us "His answer was to pretty much say that they wouldn't be able to until they had got their act together and hada LEP bid agreed." Subsequently Nic is working with MPs cross-party and cross-Humber to get the council leaders work together, he went on to say "Otherwise the Humber will miss out yet again, and there are key issues like the A160 and A64, Humber Bridge tolls and the opportunities of the South Humber Gateway that need all parts of the Humber to work together get the best possible outcome."