Previously my political comment has been restricted to the odd jibe at “who ate all the pies” Prescott, Mr Nasty Piece-of-Work Gordon, my coalition colleagues Wishy-Washy and Flip-Floppy Nick.

Previously in this column my political comment has been restricted to the odd jibe at “who ate all the pies” Prescott, Mr Nasty Piece-of-Work Gordon, my coalition colleagues Wishy-Washy, Flip-Floppy Nick and “may I have the next dance?” Mr Mansion Tax himself Vincent Cable.

With the General Election coming up, the political conference spin peaking, manifesto building under way and Dave and Ed at it full steam, I thought it would be rude not to try a bit of politics for size.

Especially as it is now clear as a spring morn that a chasm separates the two main parties’ ideology. New Labour is dead, buried in an unmarked grave and forgotten. Ed’s New-Old Labour wants more Government control - a much bigger role for the state, yesterday’s proven madness.

Dave has pronounced unequivocally that “people drive prosperity” and he wants the state simply to help and assist us.

He intends to encourage enterprise because he has seen what a mega difference business can make with just a bit of encouragement. We can take pride in being the nation’s salvation (the only game in town) as job creators, tax payers, generators of exports and confidence builders.

I grew up in Edlington, a mining community outside Doncaster, where enterprise was discouraged and flattened and where the miners’ union was all-powerful and the whole ethos was to discourage anyone from working harder than everyone else. Like all working class lads in that environment, I was brought up to detest the Tories. Yet I came to support the Conservative Party in defiance of my upbringing in that rock-solid, Labour-voting mining village. Motivated by experiencing the pain, seeing at firsthand the contradictions of the system, learning and deciding for myself which party was on my side.

It became obvious to me that it was business that put the wages into people’s pockets and food on their tables, that gave us hope for the future.

In my September column I predicted that retailers would be among the biggest winners from the growing improvement in our economic environment.

It delights me that just two weeks ago the International Monetary Fund admitted it got it wrong when it told George Osborne austerity wasn’t working, clearly acknowledging the improvements in our environment and endorsing my earlier views.

We are acknowledged as the fastest growing economy in the developed world and we, us, the private sector have created 1.4 million jobs since 2010.

Only last week the general public ignored Unison’s threats and oversubscribed seven times for Royal Mail shares, and good and less good companies are queuing up for their own listings. You have to be wilfully blind not to see the green shoots of recovery that are springing up everywhere.

Profit is no longer a dirty word - that is official. So let’s not be shy, let us make a mountain of the stuff. We can invest it back into our businesses to provide security, facilitate faster growth and create jobs aplenty confident in the knowledge that the Tories are supporting and fostering enterprise.

Our nation of shopkeepers is the very best and Britain has always been a world-beater, inventing everything from the railways to the jet engine.

Let us invent a way to strengthen our businesses and earn more sustainable profits while it is fashionable. Dave has given us the green light.

  • Lord Kirkham is founder of DFS