City must stay true to its motto

11:17am Friday 28th March 2008

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When I was first elected in 1970, I joined the Lord Mayor, alderman and citizens of the City and County Borough of Bradford in guiding the fortunes of a great city which through its own, unaided efforts had made itself the world capital of the wool industry.

The currency was real pounds, shillings and pence. The Common Market had not been inexplicably replaced by the European Union, and English law was the only law in England. Garage music was music played in garages. And there wasn't a mobile phone in sight or earshot.

Bradford's streets were busy with people heading for stores such as Busbys; Brown, Muff; Woolworths; O S Wain; Marshall & Snelgrove.

Bradford used to be a city to be proud of. So, how did it all go wrong?

Perhaps the signs were there for all to see, because that was the era of Red Ted, Red Robbo, King Arthur' versus Ted Heath, restrictive practices, lightning strikes, sudden power cuts, amalgamations and takeovers.

Within a few years Bairds Television and International Harvester had left Bradford; engineering and textiles had begun to falter under pressure from foreign competition and changing fashions, and the Common Market was beginning to frown on the notion that British is Best'. And perhaps it no longer was best, even though it provided vital local employment.

Local allegiances were slackening and standards diminishing: dressing down' was replacing dressing up'. Whenever business and commerce centralised' or rationalised', it seemed to do so outside Bradford, taking with it Bradford jobs and prosperity.

Increasingly, people began to look to the Council for a solution to the city's problems. Unfortunately, most northern industrial centres were in decline also as traditional industries faded away.

Competition for new industries was fierce, and Bradford had to reinvent itself as a tourist centre with the aid of its woodland, parks, moors, architecture and historic settlements - assets which have by no means been fully exploited.

The challenge remains today, together with a realisation that the Council is not in a position to provide all the answers. Partnerships with outside agencies such as Yorkshire Forward, the Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Assembly and the nascent, slightingly-named Leeds City Region' as keys to future prosperity, provided that educational achievement can match up to the academic and technical demands of the new age'.

As fellow Bradfordians we all need to do everything in our power to support Bradford - its schools, industry, trade, commerce, shops and facilities. Demand increases supply, and success breeds success.

When the Broadway development finally takes shape, let us all flock to it and forsake other cities' out-of-town shopping malls. We depend on each other for our own city's success.

Bradford must once again become the bustling, lively, friendly place it used to be. As our old civic motto used to advise us - Labor Omnia Vincit - hard work overcomes all. That's what I believe in.