WITH less than 12 months to go until Brexit day, working people in County Durham have reason to be worried. Whichever way you voted in the referendum, the government simply isn’t standing up for your interests. They still haven’t come up with a plan to protect jobs in your communities or your rights at work. And they haven’t given local businesses the guarantees they need either.

In fact, they’re so unprepared that we’re still facing a real risk of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

That would be disastrous for County Durham, which research shows is the most vulnerable county in the country to Brexit. And the picture is bleak for all of the North-East. The government’s own analysis shows that a “no deal” Brexit would hit growth in the North-East by 16 per cent – more than any other region.

I remember when coalfields like County Durham’s were facing closure, and despite lobbying from the Coalfields Communities Campaign, the government in London did nothing to support local communities or create new jobs.

More recently, County Durham has suffered more than most places in the country when it comes to local government cuts. It now has £117m less spending power per year than in 2010 when the Tories came to power.

But it did get millions of pounds of support from the EU. The results can still be seen today in Consett Business Park, Netpark in Sedgefield and hundreds of other schemes, employment projects and new office blocks and buildings all made possible or developed with EU funding. Projects like these create growth and prosperity. So this kind of funding must be replaced post-Brexit.

The county has also benefited from trade with the EU. Hitachi Rail Europe have made clear that Britain’s EU membership was a key driver for them coming to Newton Aycliffe and creating hundreds of jobs, and thousands more in the supply chain.

So what happens when we leave? Successive Conservative governments have shown little interest in investing in County Durham’s future, and that hasn’t changed since the referendum.

After the vote, Theresa May promised to listen to people in places like County Durham to ensure they got more jobs, more investment and more opportunities to thrive.

In reality, the opposite has happened. The terms of Brexit are being decided by factions within the Conservative Party. Ordinary working people aren’t getting a look in.

The TUC is clear: the UK voted to leave the EU. But no one voted to be poorer or to lose their rights at work.

So we analysed all the options available to the UK to see which is the best way to protect jobs and rights at work. Right now, it looks like the best option is to stay in the single market and customs union.

That will mean that goods and services can move easily around Europe – protecting good jobs. And it will mean that the Conservatives can’t undermine the rights at work that unions won from Europe.

We want the prime minister to put the needs of working people first, and put all options for a final Brexit deal back on the table.

BUT, of course, the problems facing our communities don’t begin or end with Brexit. Ten years on from the global financial crisis, working people’s incomes still haven’t recovered. In the North-East, working families are £15 worse off a week than they were in 2008.

Too many communities have seen well-paid, skilled jobs disappear, without anything taking their place. One in ten workers in the North East are on insecure contracts, proving that the gig economy is putting a modern spin on old-fashioned exploitation. It’s not surprising that working people are angry.

Whatever happens, trade unions will keep fighting for a better deal for working people. But without a decent Brexit deal, it’s going to be a lot harder to tackle the big challenges facing our communities.

Time is running out. Theresa May needs to stop crossing her fingers and hoping something will turn up. It’s time to get a deal that delivers for ordinary working people, in County Durham and across the UK.