BritainPrime minister Tony Blair and chancellor Gordon Brown held out the possibility of preserving jobs and viable car production at MG Rover's stricken Longbridge plant after emergency talks in Birmingham last night.
Political sensitivity to the threatened collapse of Britain's last volume car-manufacturer was underlined by Mr Blair's speedy return from the Pope's funeral in Rome amid speculation about the implications for Labour's general election hold on a number of marginal constituencies in the West Midlands.
In the aftermath of the "shambles" generated by trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt's pre-emptive announcement on Thursday night, it was confirmed yesterday that a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers had been appointed to take over the running of the company.
Following the collapse of talks about a possible rescue deal with the Chinese manufacturer, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), Ms Hewitt said the company had called in the receivers in what she called "a devastating blow" for the workforce of just over 6,000.
While Ms Hewitt made her "announcement", the directors of the company were maintaining that no decision had been taken, prompting local Conservative MP Julie Kirkbride to accuse the minister of incompetence.
"What right has the government to announce that a private company has gone into administration when the directors themselves have made no such statement?" she demanded.
With nerves and uncertainty still high last night, Mr Blair emerged from talks with the Rover task force and trade union leaders suggesting it might still be possible to do some sort of deal with the Chinese.
"We will do whatever we can possibly do to safeguard the livelihoods and jobs of the people here," he vowed, saying they were agreed in their objective to preserve "as much production and as many jobs as possible".
While Mr Blair said the original deal with SAIC could not now go ahead, trade union leaders appeared confident that the company's decision to call in the administrators had changed the situation.
Jack Dromey, deputy general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, insisted "Longbridge is not dead."
The T&GWU leader, Tony Woodley, had earlier bolstered Mr Blair against the potential fallout, insisting "the government could not have done any more".
Following last night's talks, however, workers will return to their posts as requested on Monday in clear expectation that something more will be done to avert a collapse also threatening up to 20,000 related jobs.
After talks with the administrator, Mr Woodley said he had acknowledged "the priority for all of us is to explore every possibility of maintaining Longbridge as a going concern . . . Rover workers need all possible assistance, above all from political leaders, to help keep car-manufacturing at Longbridge."
Labour was also bolstered yesterday by comparatively muted criticism from the main opposition parties, although Tory co-chairman Liam Fox sought to exploit the embarrassment for the government after the threat to the country's last major car-manufacturer coincided with Thursday's poster launch proclaiming Mr Brown's economic record.
While the episode is embarrassing for the government, experts appeared agreed that, even without a rescue package, its impact on the May 5th general election is likely to be limited.