Jobs of the future may be his legacy in the North

May 12 2010 by Adrian Pearson and Gavin Cordon, The Journal

GORDON Brown’s legacy in the North East may not appear vast on the surface, but many would argue he achieved more for the region in three years than Tony Blair did in 10.

There was little in the way of policies directed specifically at the region, but his influence can be seen in some of the key business decisions taking place in the North.

Linked to this was his decision put in place across England regional ministers, including his close ally Nick Brown in the North East.

With a direct line to the Prime Minister, and bolstered by his own influence as chief whip, the region had in Nick Brown a chance to get the best out of an often unpopular PM.

And that meant jobs. We may not see it now, but a generation from today there will be families whose income is based on decisions made in the last 18 months.

Nowhere is that more clear than in Sunderland. Nissan initially had little luck in persuading Whitehall mandarins to lend them support for their ambitious plans to base European electric car production in Wearside.

But support from within the region, at One North East and via the regional minister, meant Gordon Brown was soon making the all important phone calls to Japan to ease the way.

The end result was a new battery manufacturing plant and job security for thousands.

Again, on the banks of the River Tyne, Mr Brown and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson have wooed wind turbine manufacturing giants such as Clipper who it is hoped will bring thousands of long-term jobs to the North East.

The obvious threat to that legacy is in Teesside where Labour was punished at the general election for failing to find a backer for the threatened Corus TCP steel plant at Redcar.

Prime Ministers have seen big job losses before and been able to stay on, but even in Labour’s North East heartland there was little popular support for Mr Brown.

Respected for his decisions, publicly supported as a result of deep-rooted party loyalty and a counter-balance to claims of Tory PR and spin, on paper he had a good claim to lead.

But in reality Mr Brown never had the common touch that his predecessor cunningly convinced us he himself was empowered with.

Perhaps if there had never been a Tony Blair the standards would not be so high. As it is, the region may now look at David Miliband, Mr Blair’s protege, to defend its case.

Given how little we got from Team Tony, will we soon look back on what were three good years under Mr Brown?