ITS ORIGINS are probably lost in the mists of time, but that old saying “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” sounds about as Yorkshire born and bred as “Never do owt for nowt” and other Tyke maxims. So the latest philosophy being espoused by political leaders in the West Yorkshire Combined Authority sounds natural and common sense.

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If you can buy what you need from local sources, you will be supporting the local economy, supporting local business and protecting local jobs - all of which are undeniably good things to do. There could also be the welcome spin-off benefit of helping the environment by reducing the amount of pollution caused by transporting goods around the country; if you can buy a suitable piece of furniture made in Bradford, why pay for one to be brought here from down South, up North or even the Far East?

But there need to be some words of caution here. Yorkshire might be well known for its county pride and its scorn of all other areas, especially those south of Watford, but surely it’s a thin line between supporting your own and damaging isolationism?

There are many Yorkshire businesses who need to trade well beyond the county boundary in order to survive and their prospects may be severely damaged if every other region takes the same approach.

And then there’s human nature: if we don’t like the Yorkshire-bred beef joint in Morrisons - or the price of it - we all want to exercise our right to buy the Irish-bred beef from another supermarket, based elsewhere.

Brexit will make life hard enough. We don’t need a dose of Trump-ism to make it worse.