North missed out of Gordon Brown's UK tour

Jan 6 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

GORDON Brown will snub the North East as he goes on a nationwide tour to see what help the Government can offer regions hit by the economic downturn.

The Prime Minister will not be seeing for himself the efforts being made in the North East to tackle rising unemployment rates and a growing list of companies facing a difficult 2009.

Mr Brown is instead this week heading to the North West, the Midlands, Wales and the West Country. It is believed his office picked the regions based on those which suffered the most in past recession.

While many businesses in the North remain upbeat about their prospects for 2009, official figures tell another story.

By missing out the North East, Gordon Brown will be visiting the region with the fastest rising unemployment, some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK and a part of England already suffering from a worsening North-South divide.

He will also miss the opportunity to see businesses leaders such as those at Nissan whose innovative employment practices could save thousands of North jobs.

And as the Prime Minister takes his tour of recession-hit Britain, the Conservatives are set to return to the North East to meet voters and businesses leaders.

On Friday Tory boss David Cameron will be in Tyneside for a face-to-face meeting with potential voters.

And before that, former leader and shadow foreign secretary William Hague will be meeting business bosses from across Labour’s North East heartland to see how they are dealing with the downturn.

Colin Stratton, the Federation of Small Builders’ regional chairman, said he hoped the premier would eventually come and see for himself the recession-beating work going on in the North East.

He added: “We think we might well be able to beat the worst of it up here, with no doubt a difficult six or 12 months ahead.

“But for the prime minister to bother to come and see us would be a boost.

“I know it looks like just a lot of shaking hands but there are real benefits from being able to say to the man in charge this is what we are doing and this is how you could help and we would never want to miss out on that.”

Last night William Hague told The Journal he believed the snub was another sign of Labour taking the region for granted.

He said: “Gordon Brown’s recession is hitting families and businesses hard across the country, and the North East is no exception.

“At a time when people are worried about jobs, politicians need to hear what they have to say and that is why I am going to be in North Tyneside meeting residents and the business community.”

Newcastle City Council leader and One North East board member John Shipley said Mr Brown needed to see for himself the strength of the region’s economy.

The Liberal Democrat added: “I would love to show the Prime Minister some of the projects we are involved with here because the North East may actually be in a position to withstand the impact of the recession better than some others and maybe there are some lessons to be learnt here.

“However, the region does still face a difficult time over the next two or three years and I would hope the PM would want to act on this.”

I would love to show the Prime Minister some of the projects we are involved with here