Tariff-free access goal secured Nissan investment, says Business Secretary

Nissan agreed to pour new investment into its Sunderland plant after receiving assurances the Government was committed to securing continued tariff-free access to EU markets, Business Secretary Greg Clark has said.

Mr Clark said he was able to assure the Japanese car giant that they would be seeking a "constructive and civilised dialogue" with the other 27 member states on the terms of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Ministers have been under pressure to explain what deal the company was given after chief executive Carlos Ghosn announced it was to build two new models in Sunderland after receiving "support and assurances" from the Government.

Appearing on BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Clark said: "What I said was that our objective would be to ensure that we would have continued access to the markets in Europe - and vice versa - without tariffs and without bureaucratic impediments and that is how we will approach those negotiations.

"For the continental European car manufacturers, they export a lot to us, we export a lot to them, components go backwards and forwards. If you conduct the negotiations in a serious, constructive and civilised way there is a lot in common that we can establish.

"I was able to reassure Nissan - and other manufacturers - that that is the way we are going to approach it."