Bombardier’s loss of a £7.5bn contract to a consortium led by Hitachi will hit this city hard. It is investment that Derby simply cannot
afford to lose. But, despite heroric efforts by the Derby Evening Telegraph and others, the reality is that it has been lost and the blame lies squarely at the door of this Labour government. However, their fault is not the one identified by most commentators on the subject so far. In this case, the failure is not bad government procurement but simply bad government.
It is quite proper that the UK government should seek best value from its contractors and achieve this through healthy international competition. The kind of rhetoric spewing from some elected officials echoing the Prime Minister’s anachronistic and illegal, “British job for British workers” rant is not helpful. If followed through, this course would lead to an inefficient UK industry providing substandard products to a bloated state. Which is, of course, is exactly what this country suffered in the 1970s.
The failure is not refusing to award the contract to Bombardier, but failing to allow Bombardier to compete on even terms. There will, no doubt, be many volumes of Government produced (taxpayer paid for) paperwork outlining just why this decision was taken. But it will come down to three things; who does it cheapest, who does it best and who’s done it before. In each of those areas Bombardier, and countless other companies in this country, have been devastatingly let down by their government.
Their ability to produce cheaply has been hamstrung by regulation, bureaucracy and taxation. Their ability to do it well has been undermined by an education system that does not deliver people into the workplace with the skills they need and a total neglect of investment in research and development. Imagine what Bombardier could have developed with a slice of the £12.5bn wasted by Mr Brown on a temporary VAT cut. Finally; it is difficult to demonstrate past experience when, for the reasons outlined above, contracts keep going overseas. It is for these failings – for letting down our industry – that we must protest to government.
Those that demand protectionism are wrong. Instead, we should be up in arms against a government that has failed to create an environment in which British companies can compete and win internationally. The UK does not need shelter from international competition, our business should be able to beat all-comers. British workers graft as hard as any and British ideas are as good as any. The government should not complacently shrug its shoulders when our businesses lose to the competition. They should look for the causes, and when they see them, hang their head in shame.
