Nissan announces 1,200 jobs to go at Sunderland plant

Jan 9 2009 by William Green, The Journal

PM attacked over 'snub'

GORDON Brown was last night under fresh fire for snubbing the North East on a nationwide tour to see how the Government can help regions hit by the recession.

Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith said the 1,200 job losses at Nissan showed why the Prime Minister should have come to the region this week.

“This is a very serious blow for the North East where Nissan is a key part of the economy. We can only hope that it won’t be too long before Nissan can increase employment again when we come out of recession.

“It underlines that the Prime Minister’s regional tour should have included the North East,” said the Liberal Democrat MP.

Sir Alan’s comments came as the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform confirmed that it was told about the job losses on Wednesday.

The department said it was required to be informed under the law, which meant it could plan to help affected workers and allocate resources to that process.