The government has come under renewed pressure to reveal details of the commitments it gave Nissan ahead of the Japanese carmaker’s announcement that it would build two new models in Britain. Chuka Umunna, the former shadow business secretary and a leading member of the Open Britain campaign group, has written to the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, asking him to reveal whether public money was offered to Nissan to alleviate the impact of potential trade tariffs when Britain leaves the European Union. If the UK were to leave both, there would be a profoundly damaging impact on these and other sectors,” Umunna wrote. It is understood that the government provided a “letter of comfort” to Nissan promising that the UK car industry would remain competitive after Brexit. Ministers, however, would neither confirm nor deny whether such a letter had been sent.

Source: The Guardian October 29, 2016 10:31 UTC