Unions and former Rover workers sharply criticised Margaret Hodge, the Works and Pensions Minister, yesterday after she said that those who had lost their jobs could go to work at Tesco.

Mrs Hodge made the contentious remarks on a visit to Birmingham where two months ago more than 6,000 people lost their jobs. Only 760 have so far found new employment. During her visit she highlighted a new Tesco development and said: “I am saying that some of the jobs are in Tesco, and they will meet the needs of some of the unemployed and people looking for work in the district. There are also other jobs arising out of new industrial developments.”

When MG Rover collapsed, Tony Woodley, the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, said that it would be unacceptable to replace those skilled jobs with ones in supermarkets. Mr Woodley said yesterday: “Some government ministers clearly don’t understand the strategic importance of the car industry and its skilled workforce. The T&G hasn’t given up hope of saving MG Rover jobs and skills even if Margaret Hodge has.”

Martin Shepherd, who lost his job as a production operator after 16 years, said: “I think the interest from the politicians has gone now, so they do not really care what they are saying about the people who worked at Rover. These comments show they are living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Many people who push trolleys or stack shelves do it to raise money in the short term.”

Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, who serves on the Rover task force, said: “What Margaret Hodge has said is particularly stupid and ill-informed. The whole point is that we don’t want to lose manufacturing jobs and skills from the West Midlands.

“It is important for the prosperity of the area that as many Rover workers as possible find employment using their existing engineering and other skills.”

Ms Kirkbride added: “Tesco is a first-class employer offering first-class jobs. But it is different.”

The loss of jobs at MG Rover showed up this week in increased claimant figures for jobseeker’s allowance. The number rose by 13,200 across the country and by 5,500 in Birmingham. Unions are particularly concerned at the loss of manufacturing jobs because they are more highly skilled and better paid than positions in the service sectors.

The comments by Mrs Hodge follow controversy caused in April by Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, when she was Trade and Industry Secretary. When MG Rover collapsed, she berated its directors for taking too much money. She said that they had not succeeded and had not taken any risks because BMW had given them the company.

But only last year at the Birmingham Motor Show, Ms Hewitt had said: “I am very pleased with Rover’s performance. There were very big risks involved in starting up Rover again when it looked as if it would be the end of the road.”

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat trade and industry spokesman, said that Mrs Hodge’s “ill-judged” remarks “will be of little use to former Rover employees.

“These workers should be encouraged to find jobs where they can use their engineering and other skills.

“The Government should do all it can to create appropriate employment opportunities for these highly trained workers.”

Mrs Hodge said later: “I did not say that MG Rover workers should apply for jobs at Tesco.

“In my interview I said that whilst we all feel immense empathy for those who lost their jobs, there are a range of new job opportunities coming to the West Midlands.

“One example is the new Tesco Extra at Walsgrave; another is The Green business park to be built just a few miles from MG Rover’s Longbridge factory.

“Already over 560 manufacturing and engineering employers have contacted us with some 5,000 vacancies.

“We are working closely with the MG Rover Task Force and our key partners such as the Learning and Skills Council to find suitable training and employment opportunities.

“Already, over 1,000 former MG Rover and supply chain workers have been found work and more than 2,000 have joined training programmes. Despite the MG Rover closure there is a healthy labour market in the West Midlands, with 145,000 more people in work in the area than in 1997.

“As I said in my interview, this is the same as the whole of the working-age population of Solihull.”

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