KHOODEELAAR! No to “Big Business scam Crossrail...” CAMPAIGN TOLD YOU SO!
That the touting role played for Big Business by the various occupants of positions in the UK Govt. involved in promoting and peddling the crassly-conceived Crossrail holes scam, was a role that was determined not by any democratic awareness on their part but by their mysterious, strange and undemocratic interest and 'prioritising'..
Those were contrary to the public good... And also contrary to the good of the given ‘local’ communities.…
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Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers backs our Bombardier campaign
Monday, March 16, 2009, 07:30
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SHADOW Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers has vowed to continue to put pressure on the Government to answer questions over its decision to favour a Japanese-led consortium for a multi-billion-pound rail deal.
The Evening Telegraph met Ms Villiers at the Houses of Parliament, to talk about its the Change Track campaign, which aims to put pressure on the Government to justify its decision and explain why the work is not being awarded to Derby train-maker Bombardier.
Change Track was launched after Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that Agility Trains – a consortium led by Japanese train-maker Hitachi – was the preferred bidder for the £7.5bn Intercity Express Programme contract.
Agility was selected ahead of the Express Rail Alliance – a consortium which included Bombardier and train leasing firm Angel Trains, which has offices in Derby.
The deal is for new "super express" trains to replace the UK's ageing fleet of high-speed trains.
The DfT and Agility claim that the deal will create or safeguard 12,500 UK jobs.
But questions have already been raised in Parliament by MPs, including South Derbyshire MP Mark Todd and Derby North MP Bob Laxton, about the validity of the jobs claim.
Ms Villiers questioned the claim directly after Mr Hoon announced Agility as the preferred bidder on February 12.
She described the jobs claim as "murky and opaque".
Following the meeting with the Evening Telegraph, Ms Villiers said she would be lodging more questions in Parliament for Mr Hoon to answer.
She said: "The meeting with the Evening Telegraph was extremely useful. The paper is running a very effective campaign and from our discussions, it is clear there are more important questions for Mr Hoon to answer.
"I still have not received any answers to the points I raised in the debate which followed Mr Hoon's original announcement and, as well as pushing to get those questions answered, I shall now be taking some of the points made by the Evening Telegraph to formulate more parliamentary questions."
Ms Villiers said she would push for answers on how the 12,500 jobs figure was calculated and what guarantees the Government had been given from Agility concerning whether it would use UK suppliers, whether its proposed UK factory would be used for assembly or manufacturing and whether Hitachi would be transferring Japanese technology to the UK.
Bombardier, which employs about 2,500 people at its Litchurch Lane factory, and thousands more in its UK supply chain, faces a gap in its order book in 2010.
The company has said that if it does not secure any new orders it will be forced to make redundancies.
The Change Track campaign is calling on the Government to protect existing UK rail jobs by putting contracts the way of Bombardier.
As well as the IEP contract, the Government is looking to place sizeable orders for Thameslink and Crossrail – deals which Bombardier will be hoping to win.
A fortnight ago, an online petition in support of the Evening Telegraph campaign went live on the Downing Street website.
At the weekend, the number of signatures passed 2,045.
Sign the online petition at the web address below. Readers log on at their local library.
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