A call by the Mail for unity among the region's politicians to help create jobs and investment has been backed by the chairman of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
We appealed to the four councils around the estuary to work together as a new combined authority overseeing economic development.
At the moment, only Hull supports the idea and city council leaders fear the region could miss out on future government funding to other areas.
Humber LEP chairman Lord Haskins said he was in favour of the concept for the area.
He said: "I think having a combined authority is the way forward, but it is important to stress that this not about creating another Humberside County Council.
"It would be a combined economic development authority with a very specific job to do.
"However, you can't force people to get together. The local authorities have got to come together willingly and that is something for them, not me.
"If you force people into something, it will not work."
Despite the current stalemate between the councils, Lord Haskins said he had seen greater co-operation between them in recent months.
"I think we are making reasonable progress.
"There is greater co-operation, it is much better than it was.
"Saying that, I recognise that we are entering a bit of a political vacuum before the general election, so trying to do something quickly about this might be quite precipitous because any decisions taken now might mean nothing under whatever new government we have in the future.
"It is difficult because I am acutely aware that combined authorities are taking off elsewhere in the North, so we do have to make sure we are not left behind."
City-led combined authorities overseeing economic development and transport issues are already up and running in places such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.
A major new report published this week called for more devolved powers to be given to such bodies.
The study highlighted 15 so-called "metro areas", but did not include Hull and the Humber region.
City council leader Steve Brady said the omission was because the report had overlooked the one million-strong population across the Humber region.
He said: "The author of the report, Jim O'Neill, has assured us that we can be an integral part of the targeted growth areas, but we need to get our act together."
Councillor John Fareham, the opposition Conservative group leader on the city council, said: "Hull is the natural port of choice for the combined authorities based around Leeds and Sheffield.
"We have George Osborne readily promoting Hull in speeches, so it is frankly bizarre that Hull does not have a combined authority and once again is poised to miss out.
"I call on other councils to step up to the plate and catch up with the spirit of the times so we are not left behind."
'Councils must be ready for devolution'East Riding Council is currently against the idea of forming a combined authority.
But Councillor Paul Hogan, who represents Hessle, says there should be a rethink following the recent boundary referendum.
He said: "It must be in the shared interest of all the residents of the two authorities that they now work together to continue the good work so far in attracting inward investment to the North Bank, but also so they are both in a position to respond to the devolution of power over transport, economic development and regeneration and cash to combined authorities, which will be a priority for whichever party is in power next May.
"While the boundary issue has been put to bed, the breakdown in relationships between the two authorities' leaders and their senior officers needs to be dealt with and we need to move on as quickly as possible, otherwise we will be left even further behind as the other northern combined authorities power on."
Common heritageWHEN the Mail called for Humber councils to put aside their quarrels and work together, we wanted to make sure they all got the message.
So we delivered copies of yesterday's paper to leaders in Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Beverley by hand.
The drive across the region was an eye-opener in itself.
Crossing the Humber Bridge in the haze, the ports of Hull and Immingham were both visible over the water.
The Scunthorpe road swoops past Tata Steel, its bulk a sign of the region's mighty role in British industry.
With its docks, railways and factories, the trip was reminder we are united by a common heritage, despite the squabbles that keep us apart.
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