Chairing Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting at Knowle (6 Jan 2016), the Leader was in ebullient mood, announcing that the Local Plan is likely to be adopted quite soon, and that Lidl is now taking what was to be Sainsbury distribution site on the so-called ‘intermodal hub’, creating 450 new jobs. It was not specified how many of the jobs would be well-paid.

He was still upbeat, when Cllr Ian Thomas (Con) emphasised the financial risks threatening EDDC’s Budget, and that in the coming years, the relationship with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) would be crucial.

Cllr Phil Twiss agreed that you “can’t underestimate the impact of Devolution,” as he’d learned from the counterparts from northern powerhouse councils, whom he’d recently met at Warwick Business School. “There was much uncertainty”, he said.

The leader had the solution. “The most important thing you need is trust” he told his Cabinet colleagues – adding jocularly, “We don’t trust the government, and they don’t trust us”.