Productivity and growth in the East Midlands

I spoke today in a Westminister Hall debate on productivity and economic growth in the East Midlands, highlighting new Stanton Park and my campaigns for road and rail infrastructure to support it. I've included thw clip of the speech above and my speaking notes below.

Adam Thompson

Thank you Dr Huq, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. Can I also thank my honourable friend, the Member for Rushcliffe, for securing this debate on such an important issue, and members across the House for their contributions today.

For too long, the East Midlands has been left behind. Abandoned by a post-1980s neoliberal, globalisation-driven economic consensus, and forgotten by conservative, austerian Treasury logic that struggles to bring itself to invest even in London, let alone in medium-sized towns in the Midlands. I am glad, then, that that paradigm is starting to change.

At the former Stanton Ironworks in my constituency the first blast furnace fires were lit at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and they went out for the final time in 2007. Hundreds of iobs were lost, and Ilkeston became a post-industrial town.

Now though, New Stanton Park grows every day. Italian manufacturers, Fassa Bortolo, recently chose Ilkeston for their first factory in Britain. Jobs are returning, and investment is coming in - it's very welcome in our town.

But it's important to note that the new developments spark anxiety too. Derbyshire was recently rated as having the worst roads in England. The local road network was never designed to handle so much pressure, and failure at Junction 25 brings traffic to a standstill for miles around. The old ironworks was linked to the railway by an old rail spur, and that infrastructure still exists - but it's going take a lot more time and money to bring it back into use. If we can get the freight from New Stanton Park onto the railway, then that will be a big win for local people, for our roads and for the environment.

Alongside this work, I’ve been campaigning for a Junction 25A, designed to service Stanton. I’ve met with ministers, Highways England, I even sat down and found complete common ground with the leader of my local Conservative Council Group, Councillor Wayne Major. Ultimately, such a project would take at minimum several years, and at least tens of millions to make happen, but it’s needed to deliver for local people.

For that, we need the government. I’m very grateful for changes to the Treasury green book to make infrastructure upgrades outside London more acceptable. And I’m extremely excited about the £2 billion committed by the Chancellor for transport in the East Midlands, as well as about how our brilliant Mayor Claire is going to spend it.

What I reallv want to stress here today, though, is that in Erewash, we don't iust have a strong industrial history, but a growing industrial present. People want jobs, they want investment, they want economic growth. But that needs to come with proper, long-term, serious commitments on infrastructure.

When we have growth, it needs to work for local people, not just around them. They need to know that it benefits them, not just mega-rich CEOs. Part of that is making sure we get proper investment in infrastructure, to make people's lives better and more productive.