REMEMBER back in the depths of winter when the country ground to a halt because of snow with trains unable to move; do you recall the transport minister?

Philip Hammond is the name, closing down British manufacturing is his game. For this very same minister hides behind lame Tory excuses as he freezes out train-maker Bombardier from the lucrative Thameslink train contract.

As the Tories pack away their buckets and spades for weeks of holiday sunshine at taxpayers’ expense, the rest of Britain is left in the cold.

Shivering in the shade of Tory incompetence are hundreds of British workers at Bombardier and thousands more affected in the peripheral industries set to lose their jobs in favour of German employees.

As UK second-quarter economic growth stagnates, David Cameron confirmed his intention to privatise all and sundry. This rush for corporate greed makes little sense when considering the Tory betrayal of skilled British manufacturing at Bombardier.

Never mind though as our PM is concerned for the well being of struggling Britons and has instructed Whitehall to make Britain happy.

That will take more than superficial smiley stickers stuck over the glum faces of redundant British workers Mr Cameron.

T Scaife, Manor Drive, York.