The focus on growth is being lost. And that is not good for the West Midlands or the country.

Every government is a ‘coalition’, but coalition governments tend towards muddle and that is what seems to be happening with this one. There is the bankers’ bonuses issue and the whole debate over what is capitalism.

It is an irony that these questions are being asked when the coalition is led by the Conservatives. You would have thought they would be embracing capitalism but the message is quite confused.

One could perhaps understand the huge sums bankers are earning if the economy was growing. Now it is a different matter.

Next we have welfare reform where Labour had started but had not proceeded fast enough. Cutting welfare payments for ‘skivers’ and ‘dole cheats’ is popular among voters but the more you look at it the more complex it is. The devil is in the detail.

Then we have reform of the National Health Service, proposals which nobody seems to want and which are by and large opposed by the royal colleges including the doctors.

And last but by no means least there are the twists and turns on Europe. They are trying to do all this as if there is no tomorrow – it is all happening too fast.

And looming behind the scenes is immigration – immigration controls are also popular with the electorate, yet it is something none of our politicians want to talk about. I believe immigration will become a hot topic in the months to come.

All this gives the appearance of a government losing direction. Perhaps that is not surprising as coalitions are at best difficult.

However, amidst it all, the impression is that they have forgotten about growth. Yet without growth unemployment, and particularly youth unemployment, which can scar youngsters for life, cannot be brought down. And it is equally hard for the regions where the Government is also pressing huge change – LEPs instead of regional development agencies, enterprise zones, a planning shake-up and elected mayors.

Labour could be back in charge of Birmingham after the May elections.

It is all so frantic.

We need to get growth back up the agenda because otherwise nothing will improve and the danger is we end up with a lost generation.

Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya is founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group