MPs to press Minister over turbine factory amid fears it will go abroad

Hull’s three Labour MPs, Diana Johnson, Alan Johnson and Karl Turner, will petition Mr Cable as the campaign steps up to ensure Siemens commits to building the manufacturing base in the city to support the nation’s multi-billion pound renewable energy industry.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week that Prime Minister David Cameron had held talks with bosses at Seimens to persuade them to build on Hull’s Alexandra Docks amid concerns the company could instead establish the plant in Denmark or Germany.

Hull North MP Ms Johnson stressed the nation “cannot afford a replay of the Sheffield Forgemasters debacle”, which saw the coalition Government axe an £80m loan to the South Yorkshire engineering firm and scupper its major expansion plans.

She added: “Siemens have said that Hull is the only place in the UK where they would manufacture wind turbines and have re-affirmed this within the past few days.

“Losing the Siemens bid would therefore be a disaster for Hull jobs and a setback for growth nationally.”

Manufacturing in green energy is seen as one of the few growth industries over the next decade and a sector which the Government is relying heavily on. Siemens confirmed in January that Hull was its preferred location for the manufacturing plant, but MPs have claimed that a memorandum of understanding has now expired.

The region is seen as a key to supporting the renewable energy sector, with vast off-shore wind farms earmarked for construction off the coast. The world’s largest off-shore wind farm is due to be built at Dogger Bank, 80 miles off the Yorkshire coastline.