There was outrage today (Thur) as a leading Conservative confirmed that incoming Tory administration would abolish regional development agencies - except the one in London.

It sparked incredulity among the 150-strong audience at the Financing Recovery conference in Birmingham, with the remarks by Shadow Minister for International Trade and Development Geoffrey Clifton-Brown perceived to be London-centric and another blow to the West Midlands.

Mr Clifton-Brown emphasised that should the Tories win the upcoming General Election then RDAs would go.

"By and large they are going to be abolished," he insisted. "It is quite unnecessary to have an RDA structure. It is a tier of government which is not needed."

RDAs having offices around the world competing for inward investment was a "hugely wasteful" system. This role would be upscaled and handed to UK Trade & Investment, the Government agency responsible for promoting international trade. The planning role of RDAs would be transferred to local councils.

Perhaps some small teams would be left in the regions as a first point of contact for inward investors and exporters, but that would be it.

But he then shocked his listeners by declaring: "The London RDA will continue."

And that produced a ripple of protest around the room.

Afterwards, two leading industrialists condemned the apparent contradiction.

Simon Topman, chairman of West Midlands Chambers of Commerce and a Birmingham whistle manufacturer, said: "There is a need for something between central and local government, something that takes a regional view, something that is not locked into petty politics between Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and others, something strategic.

"And if not RDAs then it will have to be something similar.

"RDAs were set up to inject a business agenda into the region. Can local councils deliver on that? Who knows. They should instead reform RDAs and take away some of the social agenda box ticking. That distracts from the business message.

"London is not part of the UK. It is a very special place in the world. We need the help, not them. The Conservatives should keep the other RDAs."

Peter Wall, an SME campaigner and owner of heat protection products firm WG Eaton in Birmingham, added: "One of the advantages of RDAs is the regional aspect. It would be suicidal to stop the regional impetus they focus on."

Brendan Connor, a board member of regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, said AWM was vital if the economic gap between the region and the UK average was ever to be breached.

And, given the likely "firestorm" of cutbacks after the General Election, RDAs would "become more important, not less".

Mr Clifton-Brown criticised the Government's various schemes for helping business through the recession, maintaining little had been paid out and few companies had benifited. He promised a major loan guarantee scheme rather than piecemeal efforts.

A Conservative Government would bring in tax breaks, corporation tax cuts, simplified employment legislation, more apprenticeships and less regulation.