While Parliament is in recess, I’ve been busy working hard for our community and our country. In the last few weeks we’ve seen major decisions by the government to back British industry and support home-grown manufacturing.
I was delighted that the Labour government agreed a major £300m deal for Hitachi Rail in Newton Aycliffe. I welcomed Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP, back to Aycliffe to announce the deal between Hitachi, Angel Trains and Arriva for the development of nine new battery-powered trains. This will see 45 new carriages manufactured at the plant, carrying cutting-edge green technology. I’m very proud that this innovative new product was developed at the facility in Aycliffe Business Park. It opens up a whole new market in train production, which I hope will pave the way for further growth and opportunities in our town.
This deal follows the £500m agreement announced by the Prime Minister in December, which secured its future amid the damaging uncertainty left by the previous government.
Safeguarding this world-class factory has always been my top priority. My first action as a Labour candidate in late 2022 was to take then Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves to the plant and I’ve worked hard on this issue ever since. This new order brings reassurance to the skilled workforce but is also good for the thousands of jobs in small businesses the local supply chain.
On Saturday 12th April, I went back to Parliament to vote for emergency legislation to save British Steel. I’m proud that Parliament backed decisive action by the Labour government to keep the blast furnaces open, so that primary steel will continue to be made in our country. This urgent action was needed after the plant’s owners refused a very generous offer of support from ministers and threatened its future by stopping raw materials coming in.
The British Steel facility in Scunthorpe manufactures 90% of the steel used in our railways, is central to our defence supply chain and makes steel used by industry, including on Aycliffe Business Park. The Labour government will never let the security of our country or critical infrastructure be threatened by global firms. Nor will we let 2,700 skilled manufacturing jobs go to the wall in that way. I strongly support the tough action taken by government ministers and was pleased to be in the House of Commons to back the emergency measures.
The decisive action taken at Hitachi and British Steel is an important change from the dither and delay under the last government that caused these problems in the first place.
I’m also really pleased that we’re seeing concrete improvements locally. NHS waiting lists have fallen for the sixth month in a row, Durham Constabulary is putting more police officers on our streets thanks to additional government funding and I was pleased to see the State Pension increase by £470 this month as a result of this government’s commitment to the triple lock. Thousands of pensioners across the constituency will see their incomes boosted by this. The State Pension is set to go up by around £1900 over the course of this Parliament.
I’ll keep working hard to make sure our area sees the benefits of the investments being made in our country.
Happy Easter – I’d like to wish all Newtonians all the best for the Easter weekend.