‘Cannot go back to mass redundancies’

9:29am Saturday 11th October 2008

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MINISTER for the North-East Nick Brown yesterday gathered the region’s business leaders to hear their views on the Government’s response to the economic crisis.

Mr Brown, who is also Government Chief Whip, said he had contacted business leaders following Chancellor Alistair Darling’s announcement of a bank rescue package, to ask them to meet him in Newcastle yesterday.

The gathering included representatives of the North-East Chamber of Commerce, the CBI, the Institute of Directors, the EEF, which represents manufacturers, the Federation of Small Business, the Northern Business Forum and development agency One NorthEast.

Mr Brown believed there would be a positive response from the North-East business community to the Chancellor’s plans despite yesterday’s continuing turmoil in the financial markets and banks continuing to charge high rates for lending to each other.

He said: “I think the response to the package has been very positive. I haven’t seen a serious commentator come out and say this is the wrong thing to be doing.

“Some argue about the moral aspect and say lending institutions should just be allowed to take the consequences.

If we took that view, the consequences would be felt very harshly by ordinary citizens in the country.”

Mr Brown said he had called the meeting because it was important for the North- East to have its say.

He said: “We wanted to gather the private sector business representatives as soon as we possibly could to hear their first thoughts on the Government response.

“It is a pretty big and farreaching response. It is their opinions we want and it is their chance to tell me anything they think the Government ought to know.”

He added: “It is not for me to say what that should be, I want people to tell me.

“I want us to meet regularly and to be very clear we understand what we are saying to each other.”

It would seem more important that the North-East has an input in any national support measures because Mr Brown said there were no plans for specific support packages for the region.

He said: “I think we can expect support tailored to regional circumstances. I would be surprised if there was anything unique to the North- East, but there will be things that are more important to our region.

“We have quite a strong subsea sector, which is in oil and gas, they are looking quite buoyant, so their problems are not the same as other small and medium sized businesses.”

He said that specific needs of businesses would vary, “sector by sector.”

Mr Brown was determined that the crisis would not lead to mass redundancies in the region.

He said: “I am absolutely determined that this region does not go back to the mass unemployment of the past.

“We have had more than our fair share and we are not going back there.”

Mr Brown has appointed Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods as his assistant.

She will take on some of the workload involved in dealing with regional business problems during the economic crisis and meet Mr Brown on a weekly basis.

Mr Brown said that regional development agency One NorthEast had a “crucial” role to play and reiterated his support for the agency.