In autumn 2005, Tony Blair delivered one of his most unhinged speeches, declaring globalisation as inevitable as autumn following summer and warning that opportunities only go to those 'swift to adapt, slow to complain.' Anyone from Britain's deindustrialised areas likely took that as another punch in the face - they'd been adapting and reeling for decades, with zero sign of the 21st-century prosperity Blair promised. Now, with collieries turned into retail parks and manufacturing in the doldrums, the problem is vast. But at least the PM-in-waiting sees it, and in that there is hope. John Harris is a Guardian columnist.