Local MP Alan Mak has 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 now the company has decided not to proceed after Labour cut funding for part of the project.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had granted Mr Mak an Urgent Question so that he could raise the matter in the House of Commons.
In his role as Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, he told Science Minister Sir Chris Bryant: "Under the Conservative deal, AstraZeneca would have expanded its flu vaccine factory on Merseyside, creating new jobs, improving the UK’s pandemic preparedness and sending a clear message to the world that Britain’s life sciences sector is open for business.
"Instead, Labour has cut the funding that we agreed and has imposed a National Insurance jobs tax. That has destroyed the business case for expanding the factory and the deal is now off."
He added: "Delivering this deal secured by the Conservatives was a big test of Labour’s economic credibility, and it has failed. In the same week that it talked about growth, it has botched a deal that was vital to our economy. Labour promised growth, but delivered failure and let Britain down again."
Mr Mak pointed out that news of the deal collapsing came just a few days after a speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in which she specifically named AstraZeneca as an example of a company investing in the UK.
He said: "In the past 12 months, AstraZeneca has committed to investing more than £1bn in Singapore, nearly £3bn in the US and more than £450m in Canada.
"It could have invested £450m in our country, too, so what are the Government doing to bring back the jobs and investment that they have just turned away?
"Will the Minister explain why the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology failed to stand up to the Chancellor when she cut his funding, destroying the deal and handing high-quality jobs and investment to our competitors?"
