The UK needs politics and business to work together What of the wider issue of 'business v politics'? Businesses are the more simple organisms. As long as the customers are happy with what is on offer, the staff supplies it and the shareholders provide the financial support, the business prospers. Councils and governments by contrast have to govern for all, whether they voted for us or not. And they have to accommodate a much wider and more diverse set of people and issues and steer a course between different interests that are often in direct conflict - the so-called 'hard choices'. Then there is the moral imperative. We have a human duty to devote a disproportionate amount of time and resource to the most vulnerable in our community, perhaps 10pc of the population. They must get the services they deserve. But our electoral success depends primarily on keeping streets clean, the traffic moving, and the tax burden down. So you can't do politics on the numbers alone. My time in politics has strengthened my doubts about the ability of market economics alone to deliver a better nation. But being at the sharp end of the delivery of local services has also made me an intense sceptic of the top-down school of Government. Economists, business people and some Chancellors like to believe that if you engineer every detail of the tax and benefit system correctly, money will flow into the right hands and rational behaviour will result. This may look appealing on paper but it is apparent nonsense when you venture outside. This provision of welfare by remote control breeds groups of expert 'consumers' determined to operate the system to suit their needs. It is nationally accepted now that there are 120,000 families who fall through the cracks of our national health and welfare system. These people have multiple needs, child protection, drug rehab, housing, education, training and finding a job, and often most important of all, parenting skills. In Westminster we've calculated that the public sector could save £2 for every £1 it invests in helping them. But a local authority cannot afford the £1, because the £2 saving often arises in other parts of the public sector. The lesson I draw from 15 years on the front line of politics is that politicians and business people can learn much from each other. But that requires a commitment to listen as well as to talk. People don't readily trust either group; and that trust is vital for the successful renewal of the fabric of life in the UK. It's for political leaders to take the initiative and for business leaders to respond willingly - for the benefit of education, health, infrastructure and economic and social prosperity. That's the approach that voters, customers - and citizens would welcome.