STUDENTS from a Darlington college were given an audience with the Shadow Brexit Minister when he visited the town.

The Labour MP, and former Director of Public Prosecutions was on a whistle-stop tour of County Durham on Friday, visiting a range of companies including Hitachi and Kromek at Newton Aycliffe.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman and Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson joined him for a meeting with business leaders to hear their views on Brexit and how it could affect trade in the region.

Mr Starmer rounded off his visit with a trip to Darlington Dolphin Centre where he took questions from students studying politics at Queen Elizabeth College and from Labour supporters.

He said the fact that the Government gave assurances to Nissan which helped secure 7,000 jobs in Sunderland and up to 30,000 indirectly was “a really good thing”.

He said: “They haven’t shown us the exchange of letters but what I think we need to understand now is that lots of other businesses and companies are understandably saying we also need assurances because which business would want a Brexit that damages their ability to do business?”

Mr Starmer also told the assembled audience: “We’ve been talking to businesses in the North-East all day and they are clear that what they don’t want is for their businesses to be damaged in the next few years.

“That matters not only for businesses but also their families,” he added.

Mr Starmer favours a collaborative approach to Brexit to benefit British business and is critical of the Government’s ‘hard Brexit’ rhetoric.