Political opinion: Havant MP Alan Mak accuses Labour government of damaging Britain's life sciences sector after US pharma giant scraps £1bn expansion of UK operations
Havant MP Alan Mak has accused the Labour government of damaging Britain's life sciences sector after US pharmaceutical giant Merck scrapped a £1bn expansion of its UK operations.
The company is now diverting the investment to America, leading to 125 job losses, after saying the government is not doing enough for the sector.
It has abandoned plans for a new drug research centre and will also leave several of its existing laboratories by the end of the year.
Merck is the latest pharmaceutical company to abandon or reduce investment plans in the UK.
Earlier this year Mr Mak accused the Labour Government of 'botching' a £450m investment deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
A plan to expand its Merseyside flu vaccine factory had been successfully negotiated by the previous Conservative Government.
But the company decided not to proceed after Labour cut funding for part of the project and then imposed a National Insurance jobs tax.
There is now concern that other major pharmaceutical firms could follow AstraZeneca and Merck and decide not to invest in Britain.
Mr Mak said: "Labour promised growth, but in the life sciences sector it has delivered only failure and has now let Britain down badly again by not creating an environment where major pharmaceutical firms feel encouraged to invest."