THIS government’s decision to award the contract for the production of the much-lauded post-Brexit blue passport to a Franco-Dutch company not only defies belief, but is in direct contradiction to the idea of “taking back control.”

If this government had any intention of creating a real Northern Powerhouse, then it is companies like De La Rue, based on the border of my constituency, which would be the cornerstone of a thriving northern economy. 

De La Rue employs hundreds of people at the Gateshead plant, the majority of whom live in Gateshead, directly benefitting both the local economy and the Treasury; benefits which have now been taken out of north-east England and handed to continental Europe. 

The question simply has to be asked: if its passport operation was taking place in the Home Counties, would we have seen a different result?

This government has been caught once again saying one thing and doing something completely different. 

The idea that the return of the blue passport would mark the beginning of a new dawn for an independent Britain, separate from Europe and forging our way in the world, with a passport produced in the EU, would be laughable if it wasn’t so damaging to the north-east economy. 

If France is able to retain its own passport production on grounds of national security, under current EU procurement rules, why would this government not take the same approach? 

Sadly, I find myself asking the same old question: why is it that workers in the north-east are worth less than the rest of Britain?
Let me be clear, my concerns aren’t brought about by a sense of nationalist triumphalism, or little England syndrome — it’s simple economics. 

Unlike many parts of south-east England, the north-east is suffering from a chronic lack of investment over many years in infrastructure and the economy. 

Many communities across the north-east are still trying to recover from the closure of heavy industry decades ago.  

The result? An inadequate transport system and a local economy built primarily on low-paid, low-skill and low-security employment. 

Away from the government rhetoric, figures released this just this week show that in my constituency of Gateshead, unemployment is twice the national average, and growing month on month, year on year. 

It is right that we continue to maintain close relationships with the EU as we leave a trading block of 500 million consumers. 

It is imperative that we work closer than ever before with our neighbours and it remains to be seen whether this is another example of a company undercutting competitors to win the tender, to then ramp up costs later in the process. 

Aside from all of that, one thing is clear: this procurement process has clearly failed to take into account the additional benefits to the national economy, let alone the local economy in Gateshead. 

With a growing unemployment rate across my constituency, the potential loss of significant numbers of well-paid, high-skilled jobs is a disaster for Gateshead and the north-east, and something that this government clearly doesn’t care about.

Ian Mearns is Labour MP for Gateshead.