Lead story
Vauxhall jobs in danger
By Caroline Colebrook
UNION leaders are pressuring the Government to do more to secure the future of Vauxhall factories in Britain, after a weekend of international negotiation that saw the Canadian car parts manufacturer, Magna, and the Russian bank, Sberbank agree to take over the European section of the failing US giant General Motors – Vauxhall’s parent company.
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Editorials
No to the European Union
Many of us will have received a letter from Gordon Brown last week laying out Labour’s case at the local and European elections this week. Brown recalls the Tories’ record during the last recession and restates his government’s efforts in the current slump. But he says very little about the European Union, which is after-all what this week’s poll is largely about.
In just two sentences the Prime Minister reduces the EU question to that of trade with “Europe”, which he says means “more jobs at home” while claiming that the Tories “prefer isolation in Europe – even at the costs of jobs in Britain”. That’s one way of looking at it.
In fact neither statement is true. Overseas trade with “Europe” or anyone else in the world means more jobs at home but Brown ignores the strictures of the European Union that have led to the collapse of British manufacturing and the virtual end of the mining industry over the years. Nor is it true to say that the Tories “prefer isolation” in Europe. The Cameron leadership are certainly opposed to the euro currency but they are not, in principle, against the EU or the Treaty of Rome.
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