By Max Clarke
Up to 1500 jobs are set to be lost from Bombardier, the UK's last remaining train manufacturer’s Derby site as a number of contracts draw to a close and are yet to have been replaced.
Bombardier recently lost out on a lucrative contract to build trains for Thameslink to rival German firm Siemens, sparking anger from workers’ unions.
The UK government insist that under EU Procurement law, Siemens made a more competitive offer and that to favour the UK company over Siemens have been discriminatory practice.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond assures that jobs would likely have been lost as a number of contracts currently undertaken by the firm come to a close and that the loss of the Siemens contract alone is not responsible for the loss of the 1500 jobs.
A Bambardier spokesperson, however, disputed Hammond's claims, assuring that no full time staff would have been made involuntarily redundant had the Thameslink deal been awarded to them.
Unions have reacted angrily to the news, blasting the coalition's snub of UK manufacturing at a time of continued economic uncertainty and joblessness.
"The situation at Bombardier has reached crisis point, said Unite union General Secretary, Len McCluskey. "The government must now act swiftly and decisively to save Britain's last train manufacturer."
"The dire consequences of the government's misguided decision to exclude Bombardier from the contract to build carriages for the Thameslink project is now becoming a reality."
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