North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has reaffirmed her commitment to ensuring action is taken to secure the future of Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe plant.
Ms McGuinness was reacting to an urgent plea from a global leader of Hitachi on any incoming administration to act on day one of coming into power to ensure the hundreds of jobs the plant support are secured.
Hitachi executive vice president of energy and mobility Alistair Dormer, spoke to The Northern Echo of his frustration at the government after years of fruitless talks.
Hitachi is making its final trains for Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway.
Ministers told Hitachi they had no plans to order more trains to run on the West Coast mainline, which the firm saw as the only viable way to plug the production gap.
Speaking to the Northern Echo on the campaign trail at the weekend, Mr Sunak said his government is taking action to save Hitachi by "being committed to a really robust rail manufacturing supply chain because that's important to our country."
He added: "The investment that we're making in rail across the country is evidence of that, including in the North East, specifically on the Hitachi factory.
"The Transport Secretary has been in regular dialogue with the company, the unions and representatives to work through the options and do everything we can to make sure that the supply chain is robust and the factory can have a sustainable future."
But, Mr Dormer said: “We need decisions. We need action. It's been pretty frustrating for the last two and a half years of presenting so many different options to the Government and, unfortunately, not getting a decision.
“We’ve had lots of words, which is very nice, but we need action."
Kim McGuinness, Labour’s North East Mayor said: "As North East Mayor, I have made it my mission to create opportunity across the region.
"I've worked closely with Hitachi for many months now, since before I was elected Mayor, to make sure that the need for action stays at the top of the priority list for Government.
"Whoever is in Government after July 4, I will continue to fight to keep this factory and the 750 jobs in our region.
"They are integral to our future in the North East. Alongside Hitachi and our parliamentary candidate for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor, Alan Strickland, I have brought Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Louise Haigh to the factory and am pleased they are as committed to it as we are."
Recommended reading:
- Hitachi executive calls for action to save Aycliffe factory
- Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves visits Hitachi in Aycliffe
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Speaking to The Northern Echo during a visit to the plant in April, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “The ball is in the company’s court to come back to us with some options which we will look at creatively and constructively with a view to finding some solutions.”
The Northern Echo approached the Department of Transport, who were unable to comment on the Government's behalf due to the General Election.
We have contacted the Conservative Party for a comment.
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