Gordon Brown is convinced that last week’s agreement at the G20 Summit will impact well on Yorkshire people and businesses.

Backing Rosie Winterton’s guide, he said the agreement would mean that the recession would be shorter and more jobs would be saved.

“The fact that the world has signed up to a global plan for recovery will make a real difference for families and businesses in Yorkshire and Humber facing difficult times. In the next few weeks, I will be concentrating on our own national plan, which puts in place the building blocks for future recovery by investing in families, jobs, and in the key sectors of the economy.

“We have already put in place a number of measures to help, including child tax credit rises of over £150 a year and working tax credits of over £90 a year.

“In addition, 22 million basic-rate taxpayers will now pay £145 less tax because of the fiscal stimulus and for firms we have introduced the deferred payment of more than £1.75 billion in tax for over 100,000 businesses since November.”