04 April 2024 , 15:01
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The Government needs to "stop dithering" and do everything possible to ensure the future of Derby's Alstom train-making facility, says Labour.
During a visit to the plant, which is the largest railway assembly site in the UK, on Thursday, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor, and Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Business Secretary, called on ministers to adapt existing contracts and fast-track plans for new trains and carriages.
Ms Reeves said: “Train manufacturing is such a vital part of the economy, both in direct jobs here at Alstom but also in the supply chain. It’s almost unimaginable not to have train production here in Derby. I know that there is a bright future – we’ve just got to get through the next 18 or 24 months.
“It is now only Government that can guarantee that work by varying existing contracts and by bringing forward new procurement. These are trains that have to be built and manufactured. The only question is whether the Government can stop dithering and guarantee that that work will happen right now so that we can secure the future here.”
Ms Reeves added: “This Government even, at this late stage, can ensure the future of work – but my real worry is that if the Government continue to delay the general election and continue to delay decisions here … by the next election it would already be too late and the site could be mothballed.
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“I want the Government to take the action that is needed now. Time is running out and it is now in the hands of this secretary of state and this Prime Minister.”
Mr Reynolds said the UK train manufacturing sector was not an industry that was failing but did need “good, consistent” Government decision-making and “promises that have already been made” to be honoured.
He said: “It is really important to stress that this is not a request for some sort of government bailout or government money. This is simply about the lack of a consistent industrial strategy that gives a steady through-put of work, that keeps a world-class facility like this open.
“We can’t afford to lose success stories like this (factory). This is a huge issue locally … but this is also about our national, sovereign capability and the strength of our economy. That’s something that we hold very, very dear. When we talk about turning around the performance of the UK economy, we have got to have places like this.”
Ms Reeves added: “Even at – as one member of the management team put it to me earlier – five minutes to midnight, the Government can still do what is needed and do what is necessary to maintain train production here in Derby. I would also urge them to actually come here to Alstom, to come here to Derby to talk to the workers and talk to the management team – and not to hide in their offices in Westminster.
“The fact that they haven’t speaks volumes about this Government’s commitment to the people of Derby and to the workers here.”
A lack of orders saw production lines working on new trains stopped last month. The final train from Alstom's order book was completed on March 21. A HS2 order is expected to start in 2026, but apart from that there is no workload.