East or not - that is the question
We're now in the greater south east, according to the government.
Does that matter?
Well it does if you're starting a business because if you do it in any other region you get a.
It's an offer that lasts three years, and at £5,000 for up to ten workers, it could be worth £50k per annum; a tidy sum.
That puts our start-ups at a disadvantage.
"Why," I asked a government spokesman,"is the east, no longer the east?"
The answer is because we, along with the south and London, have the greatest number of private sector jobs already.
Matthew Hancock, the new Conservative MP for West Suffolk, nods sagely:"Yes that's right, we have less public sector jobs here and more private enterprise."
The measure is designed to stimulate new businesses in areas with more dependence on the public sector. That means the north.
We blame , and its cluster of high-tech businesses around Cambridge but it's hard to see why nearby Peterborough or Thetford, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Luton and many others should suffer.
The East is not being treated in the same way as the rest of the country and we believe that is totally wrong - John Bridge, Chairman of Cambridgeshire's Chambers of Commerce
John Bridge is the Chairman of "You need to invest in sucess," he tells us.
"The key thing is the priciple that cetain parts of the UK are going to be disadvantaged against the majority. In the east we have tremendous success in terms of business development and start-ups but what we don't believe is right is that businesses here should not have the same opportunities as elsewhere.
"The East is not being treated in the same way as the rest of the country and we believe that is totally wrong. It sends the wrong message.
"This is not isolated either. There are other examples of where we are not being invested in, in the way that we feel is appropriate and necessary for the future."
Last week the A14 scheme from Cambridge to Huntingdon was scrapped; something that's been on the drawing board since 1994. This week there was news of money for transport developments in several northern cities but nothing for us.
"If we're going to get out of the current economic crisis we need to have businesses creating jobs and wealth. The only way we can do that is to invest where we are going to get the best return."
For once I'm going to let someone else have the last word.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
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