Nissan is staying in Sunderland. Now May should come clean on the "support and assurances" given to the car maker

Number 10 is inevitably going to face calls for support and assurances from other car makers and other industries

Nissan's car plant at Sunderland (Getty)

Well that’s a relief. Nissan has confirmed that it plans to build both the new Qashqai and the X-Trail SUV in Sunderland after all.

The decision comes in the wake of “support and assurances” from Britain’s Brexit backing Government.

The nature of that support and those assurances remains shrouded in secrecy. Carlos Ghson, Nissan’c chief executive, had previously said that further invesment in the plant would be dependent on Government compensation if Brexit led to the imposition of tariffs on his exports. Announcing that investment he said he welcomed the “commitment to the automotive industry in Britain” shown by Prime Minister Theresa May.

For her part, Ms May described the announcement as “fantastic news” and evidence that “Britain is open for business” without providing any details of how that “fantastic news” came about.

Which is what makes the whole thing problematic.

There was a strong case for Nissan to bring the work to Sunderland, even in the absence of any Government “commitment to the automotive industry in Britain”. Its plant there is one of the world’s most efficient. The pound has slumped in value, further reducing the already low costs Nissan incurs at the operation. The UK will, anyway, remain a part of the EU for the next two years, and perhaps longer given no one’s quite sure how the exit negotiations will play out (probably not well given the people leading the process on our side).

With the addition of that support and and those assurances, Mr Ghson might very well feel that he’s just won the weekend’s Euro Millions draw. Which explains why he’s grinning.

As for our “Brexit means Brexit” PM, she’s smiling because the news helps deflect attention from the mess she’s trying to deal with. Not to mention those leaks about her real views on Brexit.

She probably realises that she’s going to have a bevy of other car makers queuing up at Number 10 looking for “support and assurances” of their own. What’s good for the goose, after all. But that’s a problem that can wait for another day.

So is the fact that it’s not just car makers that will be after “support and assurances” of their own ahead of the 10 per cent tariffs that will be lumped on British exports after a hard Brexit from the EU. Small wonder that Number 10 doesn’t appear overly keen to provide details on the deal Nissan has secured.

Ms May will, of course, face questions about it in the House of Commons, but she’s probably already prepared her replies. She’ll talk about the need for commercial confidentiality and how it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to discuss negotiations conducted with the likes of Nissan in public.

A variant of that second line has been used to swat away just about any query related to what the Government plans to do after triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The electorate is being kept in the dark about both.

It’s a funny sort of democracy we live in right now.