From the Guardian:

The business secretary, Vince Cable, has highlighted the serious disparities between different parts of the country in economic performance and job prospects.

He was speaking at a conference designed to boost local enterprise partnerships, the government’s chosen vehicle for regional business growth.

Cable said: “There are worryingly high disparities between economic performance and employment prospects in different parts of the UK, and those areas that become highly dependent on the public sector face particularly difficult challenges.”

Liberal Democrat ministers have often talked of the need to ensure that all parts of the UK benefit from economic growth. That’s why Nick Clegg was so keen on the Regional Growth Fund. Vince spoke of the importance of Government helping to boost infrastructure and skills to encourage growth:

Sustainable private sector growth is not going to occur spontaneously but will need support through infrastructure and training.

I do not believe in managed decline for regions that are underperforming. Even after the major crisis and contraction in London‘s banking sector, the south-east maintains a more buoyant economy, reflected in property and retail markets for example, than most other parts of the country.

The rebalancing of the economy that our ministers talk about has two angles, becoming less reliant on financial services and boosting manufacturing and other sectors of the economy and ensuring that the spoils of growth are enjoyed in every area of the country.

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