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Brown’s warning over Nissan

The government support which influenced Nissan’s decision to invest its future in Wearside would be withdrawn should the Tories rise to power, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions in the build up to the Budget, he said that a Conservative government would abolish ongoing support for industries such as zero emissions vehicles under the party’s industrial policy.

“I have to say that the one reason that it was possible for Nissan to [commit to making the Leaf on Wearside] was that there will be support available from government,” said the PM in response to a question from Labour’s Fraser Kemp.

He said new investment by Nissan to build these cars was only possible under Labour while the Tories would have withdrawn it.

Chancellor Alistair Darling backed up Mr Brown in his Budget speech as he also championed Labour’s role in helping Nissan grow its North East presence.

“[The news] from Nissan last week was a vote of confidence in British engineering and it’s workforce.

“But this would not have happened without our support to unlock this private investment. It is precisely this approach which ensures we compete on a global scale.”

Meanwhile, Labour’s Stuart Bell asked the PM about news of industrial investment and new jobs on Teesside.

Mr Brown said such good news is only possible because the government is prepared to support such investment.

In the aftermath of the Budget speech, Tory leader David Cameron said that, like every other Labour government throughout history, Mr Brown et al have run out of money and are leaving it up to the next Tory government to pick up the pieces.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .