Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca today announced it will invest £11 billion into China. Just months after giving Britain the cold shoulder over a comparatively modest investment at home…
In September the firm binned plans for a £200 million expansion of its Cambridge research hub and shelved a £450 million overhaul of its Liverpool vaccine plant over how much the NHS pays for medicines. The deal would have created 1,000 jobs in the UK. Instead, the cash is now heading east, increasing AstraZeneca’s China workforce to more than 20,000. Keir Starmer said:
“AstraZeneca’s expansion and leadership in China will help the British manufacturer continue to grow – supporting thousands of UK jobs.”
So far Starmer’s Beijing jolly has delivered visa-free travel for Britons staying under 30 days. What has he given up in return…
UPDATE: Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said:
“Astra’s a great British company but under this government it’s investing everywhere in the world other than its UK home. When we are losing investment to communist China, alarm bells should be ringing in No 10 Downing Street.”
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”