“Where things are made, and who makes them, matters.”

Those were the words of Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Wednesday, as she announced billions in new UK Government spending.

She’s right. Domestic manufacturing supports local communities, creates jobs, strengthens national security, and reduces emissions from transporting goods across the globe. It is central to a greener, fairer, more resilient economy.

That’s why the Chancellor’s commitments to domestic energy production and the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeen are so welcome.

But while the Chancellor was praising domestic industry, the opposite was taking place closer to home as bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis announced the closure of its Falkirk and Larbert plants—costing 400 skilled jobs.

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This would be a devastating blow to the local community, already reeling from the closure of the Grangemouth Refinery, which wiped out 400 hundred jobs directly and many more in the supply chain. The loss of another 400 well-paid, highly skilled positions is unconscionable.

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