Cameron pledges to keep it local

David Cameron today rejected calls for the Black Country to be swallowed up by a Greater Birmingham region on the eve of his party's conference in the second city.

Speaking exclusively to the Express & Star, the Tory leader also pledged to get the British economy back on track if his party sweeps to power at the next General Election.

This month a thinktank said the Greater Birmingham name would appeal to business leaders across the world who would never understand the difference between places such as Dudley and Solihull.

But Mr Cameron said: "That's not our approach. We understand that people who come from Wolverhampton identify with coming from Wolverhampton and people who live in Walsall identify with being part of Walsall.

"Part of being a Conservative is understanding people's local identities and the institutions, organisations and structures they identify with.

"Which Government is it today which chooses to have a minister for the region rather than city ministers? Labour.

"I have shadow ministers who actually deal with Coventry, with Birmingham, with Wolverhampton. It's a better approach."

Mr Cameron was speaking on the eve of his party's conference in Birmingham where he said the Conservatives would be setting out a "comprehensive plan" based on "good housekeeping" to rescue Britain's floundering economy.

He said that while Gordon Brown was pre-occupied with healing divisions inside the Labour Party, the Tories were focused on dealing with public concerns.

* Read the full interview with David Cameron in Saturday's Express & Star.