Old money and new ideas

There is no irony in spin these days, not when it comes straight from the mouth of Peter Mandelson.
Yesterday, there was an announcement that the East Midlands Development Agency would get £22m of 'new money' to help local businesses develop innovative ideas.
It came at a press conference in London where the ennobled Business Secretary was joined by the chairmen of all nine of England’s regional development agencies and their respective Regional Ministers.
Quite a production, then.
Indeed, Government PR officers had been trying for days to persuade regional business hacks like me to trot dutifully down to London, lap up the cinematic atmosphere, do some interviews and serve up some big headlines.
Now, the Editor of the Evening Post demands that I do more than spend a day twiddling my thumbs on a train, so I asked our London-based Westminster Correspondent, Joe Watts, to take a sniff.
He smelled not just a rat but the ripe old whiff of stunt politics.
Yes, the East Midlands will indeed get £22m to spend supporting business innovation.
But...
It isn't 'new money' – it was already there in Emda’s budget.
While the East Midlands appears to have done better than other regions, there's a suggestion other regions will get more money later.
This major investment in the regional economy is happening while Emda's budget is actually being cut.
And if it was already sitting in Emda's budget ready to be spent on business why was an announcement made only now, at a set-piece press conference, in London, fronted by a Big Name Government Minister?
Two months before a General Election, you and I may only speculate.
Shadow Business Secretary and Notts MP Ken Clarke, who can spot PR tomfoolery at 50 paces, went further.
"A shameless election gimmick," he roared. "It is money raided from RDA budgets with fancy new packaging!"
May be it is. But does that matter?
If you’re a business and you manage to get your hands on some of the advice and grants this money will fund I don't think you’ll give two hoots.
Innovation does need investing in because it's widely acknowledged as a source of long-term business and economic advantage.
We're pretty good at innovation in this neck of the woods. As Emda chairman Bryan Jackson pointed out yesterday, this region invented the jet engine, the MRI scanner, ibuprofen and DNA fingerprinting.
The East Midlands didn't invent spin. But it made innovative use of it yesterday.