McLoughlin savages Labour's transport record and asks voters to back Conservatives to "rebuild Britain"

The transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has attacked Labour for failing to invest when it was in power, and for threatening to derail private investment in the railways now.

Speaking at the Conservatives conference before the General Election, McLoughlin said today: "Here's the choice facing Britain that we must make sure every voter knows. When they got their chance in government, Labour didn't invest. When they got their chance in government, Labour blew the budget on welfare. When they got their chance in government, Britain plummeted from seventh to 33rd in global infrastructure rankings."

"And only Ed Miliband could look at the success of our railways today and say, 'you know what, all this growth, trains busier than any time since the 1920s, more punctual, safer... forget it. Let's go back to some version of state command. Our plan: a new private operator running more trains, faster services, new routes, new trains, growth. His plan: letting the RMT call the shots and leaving that route stuck in state hands."

McLoughlin emphasised that the Government will set out plans to improve the A303, A27 and A1, has "doubled spending on cycling," and is "digging Crossrail". He said investment to "rebuild Britain" meant electric cars being manufactured in Sunderland, buses in Northern Ireland and trains for Crossrail in Derby. "One of the best phone calls I got in this job was to tell me that Hitachi hasn't just decided to build their new train factory int he north-east. They decided to move their headquarters of their global rail business to Britain too."