An open letter to Lord Mandelson: You must act now

Feb 23 2009 By Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post

Dear Lord Mandelson,

Three weeks ago, we were able to talk to you about the West Midlands Auto Industry Summit, and hand over a communique that represented the output of that meeting.

As you know, the summit was attended by key figures from a very wide-ranging cross-section of the region, from academics to politicians, and from union leaders to industrialists. Out of this group came a coherent message from the Midlands that demonstrated that the Midlands was ready to work alongside the government in rising to the challenge facing the automotive sector, but was also clear about what more was needed from the centre.

Since then of course, developments have continued apace, with more closures and job losses, but little more by way of clarity from government on the issues outlined in the communique.

Without wanting to exaggerate the situation, we have to say that from our positions as editors of the main newspapers in the region, we observe with extreme concern the increasing levels of uncertainty in the industry, and the increasing levels of hardship faced by its workers - and now ex-workers.

We therefore urge you to provide a detailed and substantive response to the communique that we can share with those who helped draw it up and our wider readerships - who in this region more than any other depend on the car industry in one way or another.

We will welcome your response, and will give it major prominence within our titles and our websites. We propose to run this in our papers on March 3, exactly one month to the day since the summit.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours Sincerely

Marc Reeves, editor, Birmingham Post

Steve Dyson, editor, Birmingham Mail

David Brookes, editor, Coventry Telegraph

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