WE are constantly, and rightly, being told that Britain is just one part of a global economy. As such, our country will always find it difficult to escape the repercussions of a downturn in the United States.

While the inherent strength of the British economy will help us avoid much of the impact from across the Atlantic, we will never be completely immune.

That is clearly demonstrated by official figures which confirm that the manufacturing sector is in decline.

Thankfully, the strength of the service sector may be sufficient to keep our overall national economy in positive territory.

Sadly, that is of little comfort to our region, which has a heavy manufacturing and exporting bias.

The Government may continue to seek to challenge the existence of a North-South Divide, but it is evident that there is a twin speed economy, with regions dependent on manufacturing falling behind others with a predominance of service industries.

While a reduction in interest rates will be of some comfort to regions like the North-East, a cut will not narrow the divide. The boost for manufacturing in the North-East will be matched by the boost in the property-led economy of the South-East.

The cut in rates must be matched by a package of measures aimed specifically at helping regions like ours disproportionately affected by the manufacturing downturn.

By undertaking a review of the Barnett Formula, which determines the level of state aid to the regions, the Government has at its disposal the means to target help where it is most needed.

On an individual human level, the Government makes great play of the need for equal opportunity and the need to help the most vulnerable in society.

It should adopt those maxims in its distribution of assistance to the regions.

There can be no long-term benefit in widening the North-South Divide by continuing to allow the South-East to prosper while letting the North-East suffer the consequences of a manufacturing downturn.

The Government has to come up with a mechanism to allow all of the country to share equally the burdens and benefits brought by economic cycles.