Act now on Vauxhall.

WE would need a crystal ball to predict with any certainty that Canadian parts maker Magna would be better than Fiat of Italy for Vauxhall's British car plants.

The signs are encouraging but our Government must fight as hard as Germany's in the battle to save jobs and an industry.

Germany's right-wing leader Angela Merkel is immersed in negotiations over the future of Opel, the General Motors subsidiary which includes Vauxhall.

Frau Merkel is offering cheap loans and state assistance to safeguard plants and engineering expertise in Germany.

Yet in Britain the feeling is growing that a Labour government is stranded at the side of the road, a reactive spectator rather than a driving force.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson maintains that is not the case, and that he is using his political muscle in Europe to champion workers in Ellesmere Port and Luton.

Well, prove it, Lord Mandelson, because worried British workers deserve to see a Minister in the driving seat.