LORD Mandelson vowed during a visit to Manchester that the government would do all it could to see the country through the economic crisis, which he described as a `global whirlwind of extraordinary force'.

Addressing the Northern Regeneration and Renewal Summit at Manchester Central in his first speech as Business Secretary, he pledged immediate, effective action to get businesses and people through the storm.

"What began as a crisis for American banks has become a looming threat to British jobs and British living standards," he warned.

"I want to assure you that the British government is not going to turn tail and run with the storm. We are not going to wrap our heads in a blanket and hope what is happening around us will somehow go away.

"Under Gordon Brown's leadership, we are going to face these storms with resolution and see the country through."

He acknowledged that recent measures announced by the government, such as those to stabilise the banking system were vital but may not be enough. He added: "I do not think the present crisis justifies a loss of faith in business, nor the abandonment of the creative power of competition, nor a turn against private enterprise. I am on the side of the entrepreneur and always will be.

"We must do the maximum we can, in the short to medium term, to help business weather the worst of the storm.

"And we should start laying the foundations of our future prosperity, through a fresh approach to business and industry strategy."

He said these were `extraordinary times' which required new ideas and new thinking.

Manchester and other cities, transformed over the last decade with a move away from traditional manufacturing, have put the north in a stronger position to meet the challenges of the current crisis, and lay a solid foundation for greater prosperity, added Lord Mandelson.

He hailed MediaCity in Salford and the Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus in Cheshire as examples.

Lord Mandelson said the country needed stronger policies to help develop sectors such as the creative and knowledge-based industries and hi-tech manufacturing, as well as a switch to a low-carbon economy.

"It's by maximising our strengths in these areas that Britain will thrive in the future in a competitive global economy," he said.
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