24 | Aycliffe Today Business
Phil Wilson, the Labour MP for Sedgefield, takes a lot of
credit for his part in bringing Hitachi to Newton Aycliffe.
MPS LOCK HORNS
OVER HITACHI
TUG-OF-WAR
A political feud flared up in
Parliament recently, involving
a tug-of-war battle over
Hitachi. Who actually cares?
Aycliffe Today Business
columnist Tim Francis
delivers his verdict...
After a long campaign of ifs and buts, will it
happen or won’t it? And then the eventual relief
of a favourable outcome, local emotions (and
that it seriously not an intended pun!) have
been through the mill somewhat regarding
the Intercity Express Programme and Hitachi
Europe’s move to Newton Aycliffe.
who could blame him for trying to be associated
with such positive news, after all, he is only
trying to maintain his livelihood.
Some people might be forgiven, then – given
the circumstances - for some less-thanexemplary behaviour.
However, what many people are not aware of is
that Parliamentary convention suggests that he
should have sought approval from the serving
MP into whose constituency the said event
occurred – in this instance, the Labour MP for
Sedgefield Phil Wilson.
When emotions have been on a roller-coaster,
things often happen or get said that the
perpetrators may later regret. But Members of
Parliament should really know better, shouldn’t
they?
First, the Conservative MP for Stockton South,
James Wharton, cashed in on the euphoria by
being involved in a publicity exercise alongside
Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis on
the Hitachi site. This event was to promote the
Local Growth Fund Grants recently being dished
out in the area – all innocent enough so it would
seem.
And for a MP in a marginal seat (Mr Wharton
won the 2010 Election by a mere 332 votes),
The political strategy here being that any kind of
positivity this close to the next General Election
(in 2015) will surely gain kudos that will convert
into votes.
And poor Phil, he must have felt like Spot the
Cat from the seventies television cartoon series
Hong Kong Phooey – who was always outshone
by his canine companion even though everyone
knew who the real superhero was!
After all, Mr Wilson was actively involved from
the start back in 2009 with Labour’s Intercity
Express Programme while Labour was still
in Government. He also led a Back on Track
campaign when the Coalition Government
threatened to scrap the Intercity Express
Programme after coming into power in 2010.