O ‘Brien interesting on what he considered to be one of the best examples of levelling up by Conservatives in the past - Mrs Thatcher’s relentless badgering of Japanese to get Nissan to open up in Sunderland in 1980s...
Dug out all the references in her archives to this in this thread a few year’s back - they are fascinating / and it is interesting the extent to which she went out of her way to attract Japanese investment in then flailing UK auto industry...
Also made assurances on EEC in this memo - obv not same as EU, but perhaps analogous to customs union. Italy and France tried to kill Bluebird at birth with tariffs, but UK Gov used threat of ECJ and they backed off. also appears union closed shop request.
The interesting question that arises, if Nissan investing in Sunderland is the prime example of historic Conservative levelling up - is what does a levelling up, pro North/midlands post Brexit trade strategy look like?
Eg NE only region to have a trade surplus with EU
Eg NE only region to have a trade surplus with EU
