Letter: Hypocrisy of Government over rail contract
Wednesday 13th July 2011, 6:00AM BST.
Letter: The pathetic underperformance of our politicians in protecting British manufacturing is illustrated yet again by the award of the Thameslink railway carriage contract to the Germans.
The Bombardier works in Derby, employing 3,000 people, is the last significant railway workshop on British soil and is about to be closed by our own government. No one (least of all the continentals) can believe that any government would so willingly be party to destroying a key national industry.
Politicians will claim they are tied by EU competition rules. But, please, let’s not have the anti Europe bunch excuse them by blaming it on being part of the EU.
Both the Germans and the French recognise the importance of the manufacturing sector and there is no possibility that either of them would allow a British company to win a government contract of this nature in their territory.
Roger France
Muxton
Most Commented
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Planners ordered to stay on Newport visit bus
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Contracts are almost always awarded on the basis of the “most economically advantageous” bid. I wonder how much the Siemens bid will end up costing the UK once lost tax revenues and extra benefit payouts are totted up?
Report abuse
Totally agree the governments of all colours look for best price, but doesn’t take into account that the item may be cheaper but with lost income from tax more benefits payed out, I should imagine it’s a lot more expensive.
Report abuse
Roger “France”? Seriously?
Brilliant!
Report abuse
I read the other day that the government had insisted that the deal had to include a finance package – Siemens were able to offer better terms as the result of support by German banks.
Stange that one of our state-owned banks couldn’t have come up with a better deal…..
Report abuse
as civil servants are incapeable of determining the true and full financial effects of competitive tendering its little wonder that they use its application as an excuse to award work to foreign companies .
Report abuse
Siemens make superior trains for less money and has a better credit rating than Bombardier, this will influence financing costs irrespective of where the bank is.
This is simply a case of the “British” (Canadian) bid being less competitive than the German one, we need to step up to the mark and not rely on protectionism to win bids.
Report abuse
I blame the teachers!
Report abuse
And me.
Report abuse
One the face of it, anyone would agree with you. However, the BBC reported that the Derby plant said before the decision, that they would be getting rid of 1,400 workers, regardless of whether they won the contract.
Report abuse
Bombardier is not a British company. It is a Canadian company that has been under investing in the UK for the last 15 years, as opposed to the contrary elsewhere in Europe. Siemens has been in the UK since 1843 and currently employs over 16000 and continues to invest with new manufacturing plant and service organisations in this contry. Bombardier has reaped the rewards from multiple contracts it has won in the UK and has not always fulfilled those contracts in the UK. The Manchester Metrolink contract was manufactured in Austria. I feel sorry for the people in Derby but we can not continue to support non competitive foreign owner organisations by entering into overpriced contracts for out-dated technology.
Report abuse
When you look past what the media are bombarding us with you see a series of very bad decisions by bombardier manager that has allowed this to happen. The main one being considering the refurbishment of trains as unimportant. This is the biggest industry in rolling stock at the moment as we try to make 20-30 year old stock continue for another 20-30 years. This would fo given them a very large amount of work.
There bid was not as good that why they didnt win.
Report abuse
I would guess they chose German engineering because they want it to work properly!!
Report abuse
Roger couple of points: you say the “anti Europe bunch” when you really mean the “anti EU bunch” nobody is anti Europe. Those of us who have been warning about the encroachment of EU powers have for years been arguing against this unwarranted transfer of power to the EU we have been pointing out the obvious that if you do so you cannot then defend the nation state or its institutions. We have been warning that by voting through theses measures to transfer its powers the national parliament has made itself all but redundant.
Far from excusing our politicians because of the powers they have transferd to the EU we would accuse them of a dereliction of duty to Britain and the British people.
The argument that we can be both a member of this union and at the same time retain national sovereignty is to basically misunderstand the nature of the EU and to compound the lie that has been the politicians stock in trade for the past 35 years.
Report abuse