One in eight train manufacturing jobs has been lost since 2010 at the same time as hundreds of millions of pounds of contracts in the sector have gone overseas, Labour has claimed.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald will use a visit to Birmingham on Monday to push the party’s plan to boost domestic industry after Brexit.
He argues that as well as a loss of work and jobs the rail industry has about half the number of apprentices it needs, with numbers declining by almost 50% between 2011/12 and 2016/18.
The Build it in Britain campaign was launched by Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday at the Bombardier plant in Derby, where he promised to use state aid powers “to the full” to support Britain’s manufacturing sector following Brexit.
The next Labour government will build things in Britain that for too long have been built abroad because we have failed to invest. pic.twitter.com/P5jnUuDo8Q
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 24, 2018
Mr McDonald, who will visit the Centre for Railway Research and Education on Monday, said: “Over the decades that the Tories have savaged our industrial heritage, rail manufacturing has declined, major public contracts have gone overseas, and the skills the sector needs have received unforgivably poor support.
“We will rebuild our rail industry, to develop the hi-tech skills of young people and all workers, to promote 21st Century manufacturing, and to defend jobs and the communities that depend on them.
“Labour will build a rail network fit for the 21st century, one that will provide the foundation for a rail system placed back in the public’s hands.”
