Greeny News

Denham and Eagle added that future rolling stock awards, for the Crossrail and High Speed Two projects, are likely to be tilted in favour of the company producing the 1,200 Thameslink carriages, which will run on a north-south rail line that bisects the capital.

"It is clear that this decision could bring the country 's ability to provide these high-quality contracts a serious disadvantage in the competition," says the letter. The call for a review of the decision, he adds: "The Thameslink contract must draw a comprehensive independent review of a review is to consider the impact on the UK economy, the loss would be under this contract to a foreign consortium \ .."

Last week a letter to Cameron from Philip Hammond, the Minister of Transport and Vince Cable, the business secretary, implies that other European countries more to protect their economic interests are at the handover from construction contracts. "There is a perception that other EU countries to their public procurement processes with a greater focus on domestic supply, as we \ manage to appear so far," said the letter.

Cable and Hammond said an overview of how the government should strengthen the private sector, "check out what we can do even more to \ improve the business environment in the competition for public contracts." However, presented the letter that corresponds to EU rules, to require transparent and non-discriminatory treatment of bidding for government contracts.

Nonetheless, union officials believe to manage other EU countries to protect their domestic political interests, despite the strict rules. The union Unite said the UK the example of Germany, where government-supported German Railways awarded following a € 6 billion (? 5.4) should speed train contract to Siemens.

However, EU public procurement directives explicitly state that governments should not be based awards to a bidder 's location or nationality. Was connected to a Siemens-led consortium as preferred bidder for the contract announced last month, said the rail minister, Theresa Villiers, the deal would create 2,000 jobs in the rail industry supply chain. However, the trains in Germany, only to be built with components made in Britain.