Anti-no-deal Brexit protest held at Nissan on day firm cut 250 jobs

The protest came as the firm announced 250 job losses due to falling demand in the car industry.

The group want to ensure the carmaker continues to build vehicles at its Sunderland plant despite Brexit and gathered at its gates on Thursday, June 11.

The protest was staged a week after Nissan’s global chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta warned the company would not be able to sustain its commitment to Sunderland without tariff-free EU access.

Michael Gove, Minister to the Cabinet Office, has said the UK will not seek to extend the Brexit transition time, even if a deal has not been reached with the European Union by New Year’s Eve this year.

The protestors, who kept to social distancing rules and wore masks, said they were not connected with any political party or campaign.

They say they were moved to act as residents who have friends and relatives employed by the company or businesses in its supply chain and want to ensure it remains in the region to support its future economy.

Among them was Louise Brown, who lives near the site, and said: “It went really well and we had lots of people giving us a honk or stopping to ask us what it was about.

“We told them we were on their side when it came to the Government.

“Whichever way you voted, nobody voted for Nissan to leave.

“With the news the plant is not sustainable in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it beggars belief this Government are not going to ask for an extension to the transition period.

“In the middle of a pandemic, it is utter madness not to extend to prevent such a no-deal scenario.

“The North East is currently the worst affected by COVID-19 and will soon be the worst affected by a no-deal Brexit too.

“We are asking the Government to let us not revisit our economic disaster of the pit-closure past and extend the transition period to save the region from ruin.”

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