COME and talk to us. That is the challenge issued to Prime Minister Gordon Brown today by York council leader Andrew Waller and local businessmen and women.

The Prime Minister is on a three-day tour of England and Wales to explain what the Government is doing to help people and businesses through the slump.

Mr Brown visited Leeds just before Christmas to hold a meeting of his Cabinet there.

But he would see a different side of the economy if he were to make a visit to York, with its thriving small business culture, says Coun Waller.

A visit here would help the PM understand the particular problems faced by such firms.

“Small businesses employ the majority of people and are the bedrock of the economy,” Coun Waller said.

“I would say to Gordon Brown, come to York and take a keener interest in the activities of small businesses and the effects of national policy on them.

“We will be able to show him what has been going on here and the work we have been doing with the business community.”

We hope the Prime Minister takes the city up on this invitation.

We have said it before, and say it again. York, with its diverse economy and reputation as a great place to live and work, is better placed than many to ride out the recession.

But that is no reason for complacency.

Times are hard, as the staff at the Viyella concession at Fenwicks, who are waiting to hear their fate, and the workers at Rigid Paper, in Selby, which is about to close, can testify.

A visit to York would give small businesses in the region a real boost, and the sense at least that their concerns were being listened to.

And who knows? The Prime Minister might even learn something.