Blair diverted as Rover collapses
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 The decline of manufacturing in Britain's industrial heartland.
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LONDON, England -- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair put election campaigning on hold on Friday after a Chinese deal to save British carmaker MG Rover collapsed.
Blair offered workers and suppliers £150 million ($283 million) in aid designed to soften the blow for the 6,000 workers facing redundancy.
Earlier on Friday, news emerged that talks over MG Rover's future with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) had broken down.
Administrators announced "significant redundancies" at the car firm's Longbridge plant.
The news was described as a "devastating development" by Tony Woodley, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.
Woodley told the UK Press Association the unions' "worst fears" had been realized, leaving 6,000 workers at the MG Rover factory in Birmingham and 18,000 in supplier firms facing a "bleak future."
"The one in a million chance we felt our people had has now been taken away.
"We have worked hard this week with the administrators to develop a sound business plan to present to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation. But it does take two to talk and that opportunity has now gone," he said.
The TGWU leader said the full details of what will now happen to the MG Rover group have yet to emerge but the impact would be felt across the West Midlands and manufacturing generally.
He said the union would now be in urgent talks with the administrators to see what could be done for the thousands of people involved.
