Cameron Should Have Told The EU Where To Stick Its Siemens
The Government has shafted Bombardier. Duncan Barkes asks if anyone cares?
9 Jul 2011, 22:41
Because of EU rules, 1400 Bombardier workers have lost their jobs
Whilst Westminster and Fleet Street continue to obsess with the fallout from 'Hackgate', the future of British train manufacturing hangs in the balance as German-based Siemens was awarded a £1.5billion contract to build 1,200 Thameslink carriages. Bombardier lost out under the EU bidding process, but it appears they never really stood a chance as the process is weighted to benefit the bigger company.
As a larger business Siemens can obtain loans at a cheaper rate and has a better credit rating - these considerations are valuable under EU bidding rules. The result - the UK Government awards a massive contract to an overseas company and at a stroke condemns just over fourteen hundred workers to unemployment. You cannot imagine the French, Germans or Spanish ever doing the same, they rightly would have ensured that the necessary criteria was met to make sure their own country got the work. But here in Britain we seem prepared to follow the EU rules to the letter even if it means causing devastating damage to Derby.
Predictably our politicians are keen to pass the buck. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has been banging on about getting the best value money for the taxpayer and saying that the Siemens bid was best. But there is more to this than simply comparing figures.
The job losses at Bombardier will have a negative impact on the local economy, businesses that supply the company will take a hit, there will be fewer apprenticeships to offer the local young unemployed, and there is the very real prospect that Bombardier will cease to make trains in the future. The company is the last of the British trainmakers and it only has one contract left to service. If Bombardier cannot secure anymore contracts then it spells the end of train manufacturing in Britain.
Hammond was also keen to blame the last Government for helping to create the bidding process but this is deflective guff. If this Government really had some balls it would have stood up to the EU rules and awarded the contract to Bombardier. The reality is that we fork out nearly £50million a day to be a member of the EU and end up giving much needed work to a different country despite having homegrown skills and resources. It is a kick in the gut for British workers.
Our elected representatives can also find cash for military action in Libya, increased foreign aid and a near doubling of our contribution to the International Monetary Fund, but they cannot find it in themselves to put the UK first. It is not just the Bombardier workers who are being shafted.
Comments (7)
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One question if I may. Why have you not mentioned the letter that Bombardier wrote to Philip Hammond a few months back stating that even had they won the contract for Thameslink they would have been making around 1200 redundancies as other contracts were about to be completed?
10/07/2011 01:20I can't think why you wouldn't mention it. Perhaps it's because if you did it would make the whole of your post irrelevant. Some may say it's pretty shoddy, dishonest even.
Thanks for your comment. Nothing dishonest here. I was aware of the letter and Hammond's use of it in answering his critics. But I believe my observations still stand. If the contract had gone to Bombardier then there would have been less job losses and a future for the company. At the moment it is pretty bleak. I don't see this Govt doing anything for the working class man/woman in this country. Can I presume that you don't care about what is happening in Derby?
10/07/2011 09:32I think under normal circumstances then the government would have been justified in awarding the contract by the letter of the law, but as you have stated it will cost more in benefits and loss of taxes.
For the record I also believe that we are better of being in the EU than out of it.
10/07/2011 12:00"But here in Britain we seem prepared to follow the EU rules to the letter even if it means causing devastating damage to Derby"
Are we following EU rules, or just allowing the markets to do their thing? Should we really engage in protectionism?
I'd say yes, if it's done right, as in other EU countries.
10/07/2011 12:15So you were aware of a letter written by Bombardier saying that regardless of the decision made by the government that most, if not all, of the redundancies announced would be going ahead and chose not to mention it in your post. I can't see why you wouldn't mention it as it surely has a bearing on the facts in your post.
Yes, obviously because I disagree with your post I am quite happy to see people made redundant.
All of the companies involved submitted their tenders and the decision was made in line with EU law. Should the British governement act like the Germans and French in interpreting the law to allow protectionism or should the rest of Europe actually abide by the law? Wouldn't it be nice if the EU abided by it's own laws.
10/07/2011 13:37My post was to highlight that increasingly little is done to protect British business. This has being going on for many years, this is just the latest example.
Companies like Bombardier should never be in this situation. Investment in manufacturing is a joke and the red tape surrounding business in the UK is literally strangling.
I presume (and hope) you are being sarcastic with your redundancy line. Sarcasm does not work well as the written word.
The EU does not abide by its own laws so why should the UK? Nothing wrong with protectionism in my view. Why is this so wrong?
10/07/2011 21:15I'm glad you picked up on the sarcasm, I'm aware it's impossible to see the rolling eyes and hear that certain tone in my voice as I type.
I agree companies like Bombardier shouldn't be in this situation, however the solution to other nations not abiding by EU laws cannot be for us to try to be less law abiding than the rest and become even more protectionist. It would perhaps be quite fun to see the EU eat itself in a trade war, they could add the fun to the collapse of the common currency too.
Anthony Farrel above said it quite correctly we would be better off outside the EU than we are in it. The EU loves our money and they sure as hell wouldn't stop selling to us just because we left the club.
12/07/2011 22:05