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Despite Conservative Party attempts to end the internal row over the future of Regional Development Agencies, confusion still reigns among some backbenchers at least over what really is the policy stance.

After weeks of confusion over policy, and contradictory statements by different shadow ministers, shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman and shadow business secretary Ken Clarke wrote to Tory MPs this week attempting to clarify their position on the future of RDAs.

But one senior Tory backbencher was quoted this week in the MJ magazine as saying: 'It really isn't clear from this what the party's leadership really wants to do with RDAs. There is some talk of scrapping them, and then some talk of effectively retaining them. The policy is a bit of a mess and reflects the fact that there are, still, different opinions among the shadow Cabinet.'

The on-going confusion comes after months of damaging disagreement, which I have followed in my blogs here at the Birmingham Post.

Another day, another Tory policy change on RDAs.

Yesterday Les Reid at the Coventry Telegraph reported on a fascinating interview with George Osborne where the latter took a cautious line on RDAs, suggesting that "it's for each region to decide what is best... These things shouldn't be done on some template in Whitehall by people who don't know the West Midlands".

He went on to say "It should be for local councils and local businesses to decide whether they want a single development agency such as AWM or if it's better to have one for Coventry, one for Birmingham and the like - separate agencies that are more targeted and focused." That all sounded quite clear.

Today it changed. Ken Clarke, the shadow business secretary, appears to have changed his mind on Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) again. Speaking at a regeneration seminar in London yesterday, Clarke stressed that RDAs are "no longer affordable".

Gary Summers, MD of Alumet Systems, made the cover of Real Business magazine few months ago. The interview was titled 'Serial Survivor'. It resumes the life of this 49-year-old self-made millionaire, who started his career at the age of 19 as a carpenter.

And then, opportunities, misfortune, good luck and hard work. The classic ups and downs that characterise an entrepreneur's life.

In this 30 minutes interview, Gary shares with us his story.

The Tory rhetoric for months now has been that RDAs will go. Remember Caroline Spelman (shadow communities secretary) in full flow at the Tory Party conference in Manchester last October? "Regionalism will go, lock, stock and barrel!" she exclaimed.

Other shadow ministers piled in, stating quite explicitly that RDAs outside London would go. Indeed, Spelman's predecessor, Eric Pickles, suggested that RDAs would get the 'Anne Boleyn' treatment. Ouch.

But, after a business backlash, Ken Clarke recently announced a 'review' of policy on RDAs - although this was later denied by Tory HQ. And now Tory leader David Cameron has sought to clarify the position. It was helpful - up to a point - but needs to go much further.

Gordon Brown has just announced that mutualism and co-ops (like the John Lewis Partnership) will be at the centre of Labour's forthcoming election manifesto. Brown apparently wants to draw on the manifesto of Co-op Party, an affiliate of the Labour Party, in preparing the forthcoming manifesto.

Post credit crunch, co-operatives have found support from different wings of the Labour party, with cabinet ministers such as Tessa Jowell and Ed Balls backing them as well as influential backbenchers such as John McFall.

And leading public intellectuals such as Jonathan Michie (formerly Head of the Birmingham Business School and now at Oxford) have made a strong case for re-mutualising Northern Rock so as to provide both econo-diversity and a bulwark against financial contagion.

The Conservatives are now undertaking a last-minute rethink on its plans to scrap Regional Development Agencies (labelled a "complete waste" by David Cameron last year) after a fierce backlash from regional and national business groups.

As noted in earlier blogs, Tory shadow minister Geoffrey Clifton-Brown sparked much incredulity in Birmingham last December when he said the Tories would scrap RDAs except in London; "by and large they are going to be abolished... it is quite unnecessary to have an RDA structure. It is a tier of government which is not needed."

And in the North West business groups have reacted angrily to Tory plans, as recently highlighted in the local press. More generally, the CBI and British Chambers of Commerce have pointed out that scrapping RDAs would fail to deliver the "strategic infrastructure which business thinks is so important".

With perhaps just 11 or 12 weeks before a General Election, Ken Clarke, Tory Shadow Business Secretary, has ordered a review of policy on the issue after admitting Tory current policy was "not clear".

There is considerable confusion over what Tory Party policy now is on RDAs. Different statements by different Shadow Ministers have given either the impression of no joined up thinking on the matter, or alternatively the impression of an underlying desire to scrap RDAs outside London, without actually wanting to be seen to say this publically.

I suggested a number of regional economic needs and why the regional scale is important in delivering them, in my blog yesterday. It also needs to be recognised that the current situation with RDAs is actually the accumulation of over twenty years of experience, experiment and change, many initiated originally by one of favourite 'interventionist' Tories, Michael Heseltine.

It seems rather perverse to just discard all that knowledge and infrastructure without very serious examination. So, before the Tories rush into scrap them, let's highlight the some of the arguments and what's at stake. Why even think of scrapping RDAs anyway? Various arguments have been put forward on this front:

Unpalatable, unreasonable, ridiculous and unfair are words that might be used to describe the idea that a form of transaction tax on banking and financial market deals might be imposed throughout G20 member states. Don't worry - it won't happen and for that we must give a huge vote of thanks to US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner for kicking such a ridiculous idea into touch.                      

Blogged by David Bailey and John Clancy

So, it seems that Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts of them will be sold to new entrants to the banking sector. Remember that the government now holds a 70% stake in RBS and a 43% stake in Lloyds after last October's 'Great Banking Bail-Out' (or GBO - not so much GBH but rather a smash-and-grab by the banks themselves).

This is in effect Brussels' sanction for the break-up of Northern Rock into a "good" and "bad" bank, and could lead to three new players emerging in the UK. Indeed, Chancellor Alistair Darling said yesterday that there could be new players on the High Street when "the time is right", so that taxpayers get their money back.

Banks' assets will only be sold to new entrants to the UK banking market and not to existing financial institutions, in order to ensure "proper competition and choice".

The chancellor also said that the government will split up Northern Rock into two parts by the end of the year, and will aim to sell off one part within the next three to four years.

This is all very well, but the 'plan' risks being a missed opportunity both to do something more radical in breaking up the utility function of banks from their casino capitalism arms which caused the financial mayhem in the first place, and indeed in terms of giving customers real choice.

Saddled with unmanageable levels of debt and hit by worsening levels of unemployment that saps consumer spending strength we can, according to the insolvency practitioner Begbies Traynor Group, expect a significant increase in retail store/chain failures in the lead up to Christmas 2009.