Gordon Brown: One year on

Jun 26 2008 by William Green, The Journal

THE North East has benefited from Gordon Brown’s premiership despite it being hit by “sheer bad luck”, according to regional minister Nick Brown.

He acknowledged it had not been an “easy time” but said the Prime Minister had taken the right decisions over Northern Rock and had policies that benefited the North East.

Mr Brown, a close friend of the Premier, said: “We have had our fair share of just sheer bad luck. But I think Gordon Brown has coped really well and done some very brave and necessary things.

“Gordon is a good and decent man. He believes in the redistribution of wealth and opportunity and power in a way that can only advantage the overwhelming majority of people in the North East.”

Northern Rock would have collapsed with thousands of jobs axed if the Government had not stepped in after the bank was hit by the global credit crunch last autumn, said Mr Brown.

“The Journal’s campaign [on the Rock] quite rightly emphasised the region’s priorities and I am sure it had an impact,” added the MP for Newcastle East and Wallsend. “When I met the Prime Minister, I specifically raised the campaign with him in the context of jobs and the impact on the Northern Rock Foundation.”

He said transport was the biggest single issue raised at meetings and he made sure he was briefed by the Highways Agency and regional government officials.

“Our transport infrastructure and congestion problems are in better shape than most English regions, though I appreciate it doesn’t always feel that way when you are stuck in a traffic jam.

“The issue that is coming towards us is congestion but it is not unique to us. We need to think carefully about what is the right solution for our region. There isn’t anything obvious or easy and, if there was, we would have got there now,” said the minister.

He would like the region to find its own solution and warned changing the funding system could skew cash away from the North East because of its relatively small population.

Mr Brown also said the regional economy was strong with more people in work, plenty of job vacancies and economic growth – with further private sectors developments on the way – and revealed discussions are under way to provide more affordable housing.