WE are told we are living in halcyon economic times. There is sustainable growth; a budget surplus; low inflation; and falling unemployment.

With such a golden legacy, it is difficult to understand why our region's manufacturing and farming industries are facing such bleak prospects.

Today, trade unions will call on the Government to come to the aid of struggling industries.

And the president of the National Farmers' Union will call on the Government to take action to stem the tide of job losses in the countryside.

It is too facile to dismiss such demands as political posturing from vested interests. Their concerns are real, their perceptions accurate.

The depressed state of agriculture in our region is well documented.

So too is the plight of our manufacturing base, as job losses at Rothmans, and impending losses at Sumitomo and Corus clearly demonstrate.

In such a climate, the Government's talk of economic prosperity has a hollow ring about it.

The call from the unions for direct intervention to support industry is understandable. While state aid may provide some short-term relief, it will not sustain the medium or long-term recovery we want to see.

Politicians cannot create jobs in industry and farming but they have within their grasp the capability of creating the right economic conditions for jobs to be created.

Two years ago, we warned the Prime Minister that our region was suffering because of the high value of the pound. With the full support of both sides of industry, we called on him to put pressure on the Bank of England to reduce interest rates and make our manufacturers and exporters more competitive.

We regret that he did not heed our warning.

Inflationary pressures in the economy remain as timid as they were two years ago. Yet still the control of inflation dictates economic policy.

The case for cutting interest rates, thereby making our industries more competitive, is compelling. The risk of stoking inflation is minimal.

The Government intervention we have in mind is not state subsidies which do no one any favours in the long-term and will eventually cost the country dear.

The only intervention required is a quiet word by Tony Blair in the ear of Eddie George at the Bank of England.