DAVID Cameron has come under fire for letting North East businesses go bust and people be thrown out of work because of his handling of the economy.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said just two businesses in the country had so far benefited from the Government’s flagship £1.4bn regional growth fund when he clashed with Mr Cameron during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The fund is supposed to boost the creation of private sector jobs in areas heavily dependent on public sector employment, but no companies in the North East have yet received grants.

Mr Cameron admitted there was a “challenge” to create new jobs, but insisted private companies were doing that in the North East after being challenged by Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn.

The Labour MP told the Prime Minister that it was wrong that people today lived in fear of the dole in the year that the 75th anniversary of the Jarrow March was being commemorated. He said: “Is the PM aware that this year we’re commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Jarrow March? And isn’t it wrong that even today people in this country live in fear of the dole and unemployment?”

He added: “The Government have been in one year and already we are back to 1980s. Can I ask the Prime Minister a simple question: Is he going to be supporting workers or is he going to be sacrificing them?”

Mr Cameron said: “We have a challenge right across the country as we see numbers employed in the public sector inevitably go down.