AstraZeneca cancels £450m UK investment after dispute over Government support

'Several factors person influenced this determination including the timing and simplification of the last connection compared to the erstwhile government’s proposal'

Pharmaceutical elephantine AstraZeneca has scrapped its £450m vaccine manufacturing works task successful Merseyside, blaming Labour for not offering the enactment to lucifer that made by the erstwhile government.

The determination is simply a crisp U-turn from the plans publicised by erstwhile Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during past year's March budget, wherever enlargement of the existing Speke installation was acceptable to elevate the UK's beingness sciences assemblage and bolster nationalist wellness extortion and pandemic response.

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said connected Friday: "Following discussions with the existent Government, we are nary longer pursuing our planned concern successful Speke. Several factors person influenced this determination including the timing and simplification of the last connection compared to the erstwhile government’s proposal."

While the existent Speke tract volition stay operational and jobs are reportedly secure, this improvement is an unwelcome deed to the Government amid efforts by the Chancellor to beforehand economical maturation and contiguous Britain arsenic a premier spot for planetary investors. It besides follows warnings by erstwhile wellness caput Matt Hancock that the UK needed to amended its ain vaccine manufacturing capableness arsenic a “critical” portion of preparing for a aboriginal pandemic.

Mr Hancock informed the Covid Inquiry successful aboriginal January that the UK's vaccine manufacturing capableness was "weak", and stressed: "having that manufacture and capable and decorativeness onshore, physically wrong the UK, is captious successful the mode that it simply isn’t successful mean times".

The Treasury has been reached retired to for comment.