Mandy pledges backing to new fleet of Tridents
Last updated at 11:50, Sunday, 24 January 2010
ONE of the country’s most powerful politicians last night pledged his party’s commitment to the new fleet of Trident submarines.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he fully realised the importance of the issue after paying his first visit to the Barrow shipyard.
The 56-year-old First Secretary of State – accompanied by Barrow and Furness MP John Hutton and Labour prospective parliamentary candidate John Woodcock – met BAE Submarine Solutions managing director John Hudson and BAE systems group managing director Nigel Whitehead.
Lord Mandelson told the Evening Mail afterwards that he could understand why the future of the shipyard was critical in the coming election.
He said: “What we are seeing is that the Tory plans are a clear and present danger to the future of the shipyard and security needs of the country. It would mean an unbridgeable gap in the shipyard’s order books.
“There is a clear choice between Gordon Brown’s firm commitment that Labour will build the new generation of Trident submarines and the Tories who want to extend the life of the existing Vanguard by five years to save money.
“But what this would cost in jobs and loss of engineering excellence would be catastrophic.
“Barrow is a centre of excellence for engineering in the UK and to toss it aside in such a cavalier manner would be a huge loss to the company, workforce and for the country as a whole.”
Lord Mandelson said that with Britain’s Energy Coast, the economic prospects in the area were good for the future as long as there were no silly mistakes over the shipyard.
He also confirmed that – in his opinion – Prime Minister Gordon Brown was the best man to lead Labour into the General Election and was confident that John Woodcock would retain the seat for Labour.
Lord Mandelson said: “We would be sending one of our brightest and most talented people into parliament.
“I’ve known John for a long time and he will be an asset to a Labour government, one of our new stars.
“He will be a first rate constituency MP and needs backbench experience. John can climb high as long as he keeps his feet on the ground in Barrow and Furness.”
Lord Mandelson, who has responsibilities for universities and colleges, said he was also delighted to be attending a dinner at Furness College where he recently approved a major investment programme.
First published at 10:30, Saturday, 23 January 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Frankly...I can't stand the guy. He's been sacked and re-introduced into government so many times its beyond a joke. And he was at the forefront of the implementation of spin...which is basically a modern form of lying to the electorate with your own propaganda...grrrr. He's also one of these politicians that isn't duly elected...more like stands for a seat in his party's political stronghold which is a completely wrong style of government. 'Oh the people don't want me here so I'll move to here just to keep my position'. Makes me mad. None of the rest of us would get away with it so why does he? Or any other politician for that matter?
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If I was in charge, poloticians would be held wholly accountable by the people...not put their own political ambitions and careers first. Myself included. Soomething the current crop of politicans seem to totally miss. They should be held accountable by the people and for the people and if they're not they should not be in government. That goes for Gordon Brown also. The first thing he should have done when he became PM should have been to put it to the public. It's ridiculous and an affront to the democracy we claim to live in that he did nothing of the kind. How can we tell other nations to adopt democracy when our own is in question?
Posted by Ross on 1 February 2010 at 10:36