TONY Blair held out new hope for thousands of Rover workers last night when he insisted the beleaguered car company's Chinese rescue deal was not dead.

The Prime Minister flew from the Pope's funeral, in Rome, to Birmingham for crisis talks after MG Rover called in administrators.

He was joined by Chancellor Gordon Brown, who pledged the Government could make more money available to Britain's last major car maker if a deal could be done.

Rover was plunged into administration when talks with China's biggest car company, the Shanghai Automotive Industries Corporation (SAIC), collapsed.

On Thursday, component suppliers withdrew credit, bringing production at the 100-year-old Longbridge plant, in Birmingham, to a halt.

Without SAIC's backing the British company said it could not go on putting 6,100 jobs directly at risk and threatening more than 20,000 others in the supply chain.

Following discussions with workers and union representatives, Mr Blair revealed he had spoken with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in an effort to get the rescue back on track.

Although he said the original deal with SAIC was dead, he added: "The original joint venture may not be possible but that's not the end of it.

"It may be possible that some kind of deal may still be struck. We have just got to roll up our sleeves and keep jobs and production at Longbridge."

Asked about redundancy arrangements, Mr Blair said: "I don't think we should be talking about job losses at Longbridge just yet.

''This is a very, very difficult time, a time of great anxiety for the people who work at Longbridge, and for their families.

''We will continue to do absolutely everything we can to keep car production and as many jobs as possible."

Mr Blair continued: ''This is a good plant, they are a fantastic workforce. There is no doubt at all in our minds that any company would be glad to have a workforce like that.

''The question is, can we make sure we continue with some sort of going concern here and we will do our level best to achieve that."

Speculation was mounting last night that Rover and MG could be split up, allowing production of MG badged cars to continue, albeit with a much reduced output. Analysts say the MG name still enjoys strong customer goodwill.

Workers left the factory in a grim mood, some smuggling out their toolboxes because of fears they have built their last car for the company.

Administrators asked them to turn up on Monday, even though production is at a standstill.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt travelled to Longbridge in a chauffeur-driven black Rover 75, to unveil a £40m package of support for companies that supplied the Longbridge plant to give them a breathing space and head off job losses in the supply chain.

A Rover Task Force will meet on Monday to offer help in retraining workers facing redundancy and advice to companies across the West Midlands to cope with the loss of business.

Tony Woodley, leader of the Transport and General Workers Union, said he did not believe the Government could have done any more to save MG Rover.

He attended a meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday to finalise Labour's election manifesto and said he saw Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking on the telephone for 25 minutes to the Chinese Prime Minister.

Mr Woodley said: ''There is a determination, from the administrators and indeed the Government, as well as unions, to do whatever we can now to preserve car manufacturing at this plant and see Longbridge continue as a going concern.

''There is a clear business logic here for Shanghai Automotive to purchase this company. Only three days ago, this was a done deal. There were unseen liabilities that really made that deal collapse at the very, very last minute."

He added: ''Circumstances have changed now. What we need to do is to see whether the best option, and that's the option for Shanghai Automotive to come back into the factory, is there.''

Ian Powell, joint administrator of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "We will be working closely with management, staff, unions, key suppliers, creditors and the Government as the situation develops.''

SAIC said it had invested time, effort and resources discussing a potential partnership with MG Rover that would have safeguarded manufacturing at Longbridge.

A spokesman said: ''It was not until the detailed due diligence was undertaken that the full extent of the financial liabilities of MG Rover became apparent.

''In spite of the possibility of the UK Government making available short-term bridging finances, SAIC's fundamental concerns relating to the ongoing financial state of MG Rover were not resolved."

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