There is an awful lot of time, money and creative thinking going on into the bids to run pilot schemes for a new way of providing ITV regional news.

The possibility of trialling Channel 3 regional news in the Tyne Tees and Borders TV region, as well as Scotland and Wales, is an exciting opportunity for those of us involved in the media.

Newsquest, publisher of The Northern Echo, is bidding for the North-East licence in partnership with ITN, Johnston Press (publisher of the Sunderland Echo, Hartlepool Mail and Shields Gazette), Bauer Radio (owner of Metro and TFM), and Sunderland University.

It has been a depressing time, with the recession pushing local newspapers into crisis.

The ITV bids offer a positive route into the future.

How disappointing, therefore, that such excitement and hard work is going on amid an uncertain political climate.

Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt this week underlined The Tories' determination to scrap the pilots and "legally unpick" any contracts signed if they win the election.

It is the equivalent of asking racehorses to put all their energy into a race - and then removing the winning post.

That cannot be right. Let the trials go ahead to see if the new partnership models stand or fall.