Gordon Brown�s �British jobs for British workers� slogan came back to haunt him last night as it was hurled at the Prime �Minister by protesters across the UK angry at an oil refinery hiring Italian workers instead of using local staff.
Torcuil Crichton, Stewart Paterson and Martin Williams
Gordon Brown's "British jobs for British workers" slogan came back to haunt him last night as it was hurled at the Prime Minister by protesters across the UK angry at an oil refinery hiring Italian workers instead of using local staff.
With more than 1500 workers at refineries and power stations across Scotland walking out in sympathy with workers at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire, the government was put on the back foot by the first sign of wildcat industrial action brought on by the economic crisis.
The spontaneous strikes, involving thousands of workers at sites across the UK from Barry in Wales to Teesside in the north-east of England, reflected a growing political instability across Europe.
One million workers joined a general strike in France on Thursday, and street protests in Reykjavik earlier in the week led to the collapse of the Icelandic government and hastened the prospect of the stricken island nation joining the EU.
Speaking from Davos, Switzerland, where he is attending the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister said he understood people's anxieties about jobs as the recession begins to bite, and offered assurances that the government would do everything it could to help people find work.
He stressed that protecting jobs was one of his key political aims. He said: "I came into politics to help people out of unemployment, to help people who were poor by building an economy that was confident and strong to weather this storm.
"I believe that the action we have taken to help people in work stay in work, to help people who lose their jobs get jobs again ... is the way to do it."
In the uncertain atmosphere, the far-right British National Party attempted to capitalise on the unrest by sending activists to the picket lines. "Yesterday was a great day for British nationalism," said a spokesman for the far-right BNP.
But Bobby Buirds, a regional officer for Unite in Scotland, said 800 workers at Grangemouth were striking to protect British jobs, not to confront foreign workers.
"The argument is not against foreign workers - it's against foreign companies discriminating against British labour," he said. "This is a fight for work. It is a fight for the right to work in our own country. It is not a racist argument at all."
First Minister Alex Salmond urged the strikers to return to work. He said: "Obviously workers are angry about what's been happening in a plant in England.
"I'm hoping that as soon as they have protested they will get back to work. At times like these it is really important that nobody does anything that jeopardises any jobs whatsoever.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister later said he did not regret using the "British jobs" phrase at the 2007 Labour conference. At the time critics said the comments were misjudged and unenforceable under EU law, which requires companies to consider applications from all EU nationals.
At the Davos conference Mr Brown went on to urge countries against a retreat into economic protectionism, while David Cameron, the Conservative leader, set out an alternative view of "popular capitalism".
The Prime Minister said there were millions across the world who were worried about their homes and livelihoods. "In these unprecedented times, I've come here to Davos to say that politicians and business leaders, all of us, have an urgent responsibility to rise to the challenges of leadership," he said.
Mr Brown urged against financial institutions withdrawing from overseas business, warning that it would breed protectionism.
"This financial mercantilism - which is foreign banks retreating to their home base - will, if we do nothing, lead to a new form of protectionism," he said.
This year's gathering of high-powered politicians, business leaders and financiers has been characterised by gloom about the world economy.
Mr Brown is using the event to lay the ground for a G20 meeting in London this April, which will deal with the next stage of the economic crisis.
Sitting alongside United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon yesterday morning, the Prime Minister said: "2008 will be remembered as the year when global financial markets failed.
"I want 2009 to be remembered as the year when the world came together to reach urgent solutions and build for the future".
