Hull MP welcomes Siemens investment news 'Made in Hull'

Hull North MP Diana Johnson has described today's Siemens announcement of jobs and investment in Hull off-shore wind turbine manufacturing as "a success made in Hull".

Diana Johnson MP said: "It's a massive relief to have finally secured the Siemens investment for Hull four years after Gordon Brown started this process.

"Today's great news that Hull is City of Culture and Energy would have come earlier, if it wasn't for Coalition Government delays over green energy policy.

"This is a success made in Hull not Whitehall by Hull's business community, the Humber LEP and Hull's Labour Council.

"When this bid was flagging in 2011, and despite unfair budget cuts from central government, Hull City Council's new administration invested in the Siemens bid and ensured that the Humber LEP was formed, after it had been delayed for a year by the previous Lib Dem Council.

"With this Siemens announcement coming a few days after good news on rail electrification, Hull has a major opportunity to build a resilient and prosperous local economy in green energy and other sectors, such as tourism, culture and the digital economy.

"Now we need to do all that's possible for Hull people to get the skills to have access to the well-paid jobs that Siemens and their supply chain will bring to Hull."

Speaking in Deputy Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons today, Diana Johnson MP told Nick Clegg: "I think that we all agree that cities are best placed to make decisions about regeneration funding and what is best for their local populations.

"As the Deputy Prime Minister rightly points out, a great example of that is the announcement this morning of Siemens's investment in renewables, which means that Hull will be not only the City of Culture, but the city of energy.

"Given that that success was made in Hull, will he congratulate, in particular, the Hull business community and Hull's Labour council, because without them this would not have happened? Finally, does he agree that if we had listened to the climate change-denying UK Independence party, those jobs would be going abroad?"