Letter: Against the wind

Sir: Now is the time to end the farce of one government department (Trade and Industry) offering to subsidise the Longbridge factory to make cars, which another government department (Environment) is trying to persuade us to abandon.

The Government should commission BMW to turn the production lines over to making renewable energy equipment (solar, photo-voltaic, wind) for the Government's own buildings. Such volume production would bring the cost down for companies and local government to do the same. This in turn would reduce the cost further so that private householders could benefit, too.

It would also provide forward-looking jobs for the 50,000 employees of the factory so that another government department (Employment) could heave a sigh of relief.