UP TO 20,000 jobs in the railway manufacturing industry could be under
threat over the next few years unless the Government steps in to ensure
there are further orders, Labour MP Brian Wilson claimed yesterday.
He told the Commons in a short debate before the Christmas recess that
the Railway Industry Association had estimated 5000 job losses this
year, with more to come.
Mr Wilson, MP for Cunninghame North, said: ''We are not talking about
a hypothetical threat. This is a rapidly unfolding, utterly unnecessary
tragedy created solely by the Government's policies towards the
railways. It is incredible that they are prepared to stand idly by and
see another industry in which Britain used to lead the world
disintegrate.''
He told the House: ''Unless Ministers intervene to cut through the
bureaucracy of rail fragmentation and privatisation, there will be no
orders -- that is the stark reality. Only the Government has the powers
to break the deadlock and so far it has indicated a shocking refusal to
do so.''
For the Government, junior Trade and Industry Minister Charles Wardle
defended both the strength of Britain's manufacturing base and the
amount of investment in the railways. He said this had been at record
levels in recent years, with #1.5 bn spent in 1992-93, the highest in
real terms since 1961.
A total of #4bn had been spent on rolling stock since 1979, with 4000
new vehicles being brought into service since 1979. It was expected that
the railway industry would be able to invest #1bn next year.
''The Government has done a great deal for the railway equipment
industry,'' he said. ''Privatisation offers the best long-term future,
coupled to the Government's general support for manufacturing
industry.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article