DAVID CAMERON sparked anger yesterday when he claimed a £1bn Labour aid fund to pump-prime vital new industries across the North had been “fiddled”.
The PM was accused of using badly-needed jobs as a “political football” after alleging the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) – set up by the previous government a year ago – had favoured Labour areas.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Cameron claimed two- thirds of the projects that had received grants or loans from the fund had been made in “marginal Labour seats”.
And he warned MPs: “Proper grants, properly made for proper reasons will go-ahead – but fiddled grants, for political reasons, shouldn’t do.”
All financial aid from the SIF in the dying days of the Labour government has been frozen by the coalition, although that review could end as early as today. Attention has focused on the £270m loan to Vauxhall – which the Government finally cleared yesterday, about two hours after the company withdrew its application, pointing to the long delay.
But Mr Cameron’s comments will raise fears that other projects under review will be axed. They include:
A £60m fund to develop ports keen to host firms making an d assembling wind turbines, with Liverpool a contender;
A £340m loan to Airbus for the design and development of wings for the A350 XWB in Broughton, near Chester – made last year, but not yet handed over in full.
Attacking the “so-called Strategic Investment Fund”, Mr Cameron said: “When we looked at the money provided for specific projects, we found that over two-thirds of the constituencies were marginal Labour seats. So it is right to examine these.”
But Adrian Bailey, the new Labour chairman of the business select committee, pointed out his predecessor – a Conservative – had attacked the previous government for being too slow with grants.
And he said: “Local people will think they are likely to be withdrawn. It is playing political football with the livelihoods of individuals and the strategic significance of the companies involved.”
Gordon Brown announced the £1bn fund in March, 2009, primarily to seed-fund innovative small firms in new technologies such as biosciences, plastic electronics and low- carbon wind and wave power.
