Gordon Brown refuses to guarantee transport budgets

Jul 1 2009 by William Green, The Journal

“So on rail we are making a difference and that is helping the whole country,” said Mr Brown.

The Prime Minister said there had been major motorway and trunk roads schemes, with eight currently underway, with spending on buses also rising “substantially”.

Mr Brown also promised the Government would do what it could to help support companies in the development of low-carbon vehicles.

“We are determined that Britain becomes the home for the development of the electric car and the low-carbon car,” he said.

“And I believe that a number of companies, and Nissan is a great company, are well placed to make advances in this area.”

He declared he was ready to do what he could to help steel-maker Corus, which plans to axe more than 400 jobs on Teesside and another 1,500 at other sites across the country amid the downturn.

Mr Brown said the news was “disappointing” and had spoken to Ratan Tata, the Indian owner of Corus, to see what he could do.

The Government has also offered £5m in training support to secure jobs, said the Prime Minister.

Click here to watch video footage of Gordon Brown's press conference