John Spellar
Main Page: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)(11 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
The Secretary of State mentioned procurement, yet the Government are, for example, giving away major train manufacturing contracts abroad. Yesterday it was reported that civil servants in the Department for Transport are trying to nobble their new Secretary of State for having the temerity to back British train manufacturer Bombardier in Derby. Will the Secretary of State back his colleague, put those disloyal civil servants in their place and stand up for British industry—and, indeed, for the policy that he has just enunciated?
Vince Cable
I do not think there is any question of disloyalty; the public service has a set of different obligations in relation to procurement, one of which, of course, is to obtain value for money. Another is to observe the law, which we all have to follow. My colleague the previous Secretary of State for Transport worked closely with me in developing a more strategic approach to the procurement of trains, and we have begun to see that in the framing of the contracts that are now happening.