WHEN the epithet “struggling” was applied this week to the economic condition of his home town, it was always going to be the case that Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jack Stopforth would jump to its defence.

It’s part of his role to speak up and act as an advocate for Liverpool.

Yet the apparent refusal to own up to the extent of the relative economic and social problems still afflicting Liverpool also sounds touchy and defensive.

Mr Stopforth urged the author of a recent Centre for Cities report to take the trouble to visit the city and see the numerous signs of progress for himself, before issuing a damning judgment.

Certainly, a walk about town would create a good impression in anybody’s mind these days. That’s been the case for a few years now.

But neither can any reasonable-minded person deny the facts and figures.

We endure a high level of worklessness: in fact, the worst rate of worklessness out of 64 towns and cities looked at by the Centre for Cities.

Our output per capita is lower than almost any other similar urban sub-region in Britain. Only Middlesbrough fares worse. Skill levels, education attainment, health and housing all point to difficult challenges for the region.

The odd thing is, though, that one aspect of the unemployment figures doesn’t support the Centre for Cities contention. Unemployment in Liverpool and Merseyside has not risen as sharply as it has throughout the rest of the UK.

Indeed, Liverpool’s unemployment trend appears to have turned the corner already, before the rest of the UK. Yes, it’s picking up from a low base, but it is picking up. We will be able to see whether this trend has been sustained when the latest unemployment figures are published today.

The same is true about economic output. In recent years, Liverpool’s growth rate has often exceeded that of similar towns and cities.

The chances are the Centre for Cities is right. Liverpool will be slower to pull out of recession than some other places.

Fundamentally, though, Liverpool is part of the UK economy. Our businesses sell to other parts of Britain. The city’s fortunes can not be separated from the wider economy. Indeed, studies that look at the performance of a handful of urban areas in isolation from the rest of Britain seem to have limited value.

A LOT of sentiment was expressed yesterday about chocolate maker Cadbury’s falling into American hands.

Cadbury has been an icon of UK industry for many decades.

The company created the Bournville estate, in south Birmingham, to provide housing for its workers in the same way as Lever Brothers did in Port Sunlight.

Indeed, the student halls of residence I lived in while at university were built on land donated by the family. The Cadburys were Quakers, meaning there was no bar on the site.

This, of course, was all built on what is now historic wealth. In today’s market, money talks, and Kraft has made an offer that is too good to turn down.

The new owners may take some production overseas, as happened when Kraft shut the Terry’s chocolate factory in York five years ago.

But another concern is that American chocolate tastes rubbish. Hopefully, that won’t affect UK bars.