Gordon Brown’s fleeting visit to Oxford yesterday didn’t exactly curry favour with former employees of the BMW car plant in Cowley.

During a visit to the new cancer centre at the Churchill Hospital, Mr Brown offered scant comfort for those who had been recently laid off.

He said the Government was pushing through a Bill that would, in future, offer temporary workers protection after 12 weeks of employment.

And he said the Mini had a bright future — once the upturn in the economy appeared.

Predictably, laid-off workers who have families to support and mortgages to pay last night said his words of comfort had come too late for them.

One said it was like shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted.

The Mini is an iconic brand, Mr Brown said, with Oxford East MP Andrew Smith at his side.

Indeed it is, but at the moment no one wants to buy a car so BMW has been left with little choice but to lay people off.

Mr Brown’s visit coincided with some curious news from Cowley.

Today and tomorrow, the plant will be operational as work presses ahead with production of the John Cooper Works Convertible model, which is set to launch on Tuesday — and goes on general sale at the end of the month.

Again, former workers were left scratching their heads as to who will be working at the plant over the weekend — and asking why it couldn’t be them.

Mr Brown doesn’t have a crystal ball and is unable to tell anyone when the upturn in the economy will come.

But all those associated with BMW — management, permanent staff and the temporary workers given the boot a fortnight ago — hope that it comes sooner rather than later.