Watford MP Richard Harrington yesterday (Wednesday) called for greater investment in British manufacturing to stem the number of unemployed workers.

Mr Harrington put a question to Prime Minister David Cameron during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.

He asked: “My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will be aware that this country lost 1.7million manufacturing jobs under the last Labour Government.

“Will he explain what plans the Government have to make sure this decline is reversed?”

In response, Mr Cameron said there had already been an increase in manufacturing output and manufacturing exports in the last 12 months.

He added: “I was up in Bedford last week at the GM plant, which is massively expanding. It is creating more jobs and bringing £150million of offshore contracts back into the UK.

“We are backing that with low tax rates, deregulation and more apprenticeships. This is a Government who are pro-enterprise, pro-jobs and pro-manufacturing and who are going to dig us out of the mess the last lot left.”

Speaking after the Commons sessions, during which the Prime Minister told an opposition MP to “calm down, dear”, Mr Harrington said the recovery of the manufacturing industry and recent economic growth were “both signs of Labour failure”.

He added: “I very much felt that the plight of the manufacturing industry under the last Government should be highlighted, particularly as it is playing such a crucial role in aiding our recovery right now.

“I hope that this gradual recovery will mean jobs, opportunities and access for Watford residents.”