THE Government will today come under mounting pressure to take emergency action to save thousands of jobs feared to be at risk in the region.

An aid package will be demanded by the TUC for the North-East and other regions hit by manufacturing job losses to counter a "major crisis" in the industry.

Their call comes on the day that National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Ben Gill will blame the Government for the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the countryside, and urge ministers to rethink their economic strategy.

And the double demand comes only 24 hours after Corus, the former British Steel, added its voice to worries about the damaging effects of the strong pound.

The TUC will today publish a 30-point programme aimed at giving firms a "breathing space" over the next year. Its demands include reforming the Department of Trade and Industry, help for workers looking for new jobs and a major drive to promote investment.

TUC Northern regional secretary Paul Nowak said: "North-East manufacturing has a strong future, with companies in the region manufacturing cutting-edge products.

"But the Government must act immediately to protect this future. Otherwise we will continue to lose jobs in clothing and textiles and continue to see pressure in the automotive industry."

Last week, the Japanese electronics firm Sumitomo announced it was to close its Houghton-le-Spring factory, on Wearside, with the loss of more than 400 jobs, blaming the high value of the pound against the euro for some of its problems.

Its announcement followed a warning from Nissan president Carlos Ghosn that its Wearside plant was struggling due to the strength of the pound.

Hugh Morgan-Williams, vice chairman of the Northern CBI, said that manufacturing industry had been pushed to the brink.

"People have reached the point where they have to make the decision, do we go on or close?" he said.

"Increasingly they are making the decision to close."

Meanwhile, Mr Gill will deliver a strongly-worded warning to the Government in a speech at the opening of the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

He will single out the strength of the pound as the biggest factor in wiping £4bn off the value of farm outputs over the past four years.

An economic report will today forecast further misery for the farming industry.

Yesterday, representatives of steelmakers Corus travelled from Redcar to Westminster to raise their fears over the strength of the pound.

Executives, including Corus construction and industrial business managing director Glyn Wheeler, met Cabinet Office Minister and Redcar MP Mo Mowlam, and Teesside Labour MPs Ashok Kumar and Dari Taylor.

"We would like to see the pound being weaker against the deutschmark," said a Corus spokesman afterwards.

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