The original announcement of possible Sector Deals in January, managed to, ahem... overlook Rail, in favour of:
- Life sciences
- Ultra low emission vehicles
- Industrial digitalisation
- Nuclear industry; and
- the Creative industries
Happily Number 10's original announcement made clear that:
"This is not an exclusive list and the government is prepared to work with any sector which can organise behind strong leadership to address shared challenges and opportunities".
So far so good.
And with almost perfect timing for tonight's RDG/RSG discussions, Theresa May made clear at today's PMQs that the Industrial Strategy would be regionally focused "tailored to the needs of particular parts of the country".
Surely the PM had the rail industry in mind, with places like Derby, Doncaster and the North West having vibrant rail clusters with the capabilities to become global centres of excellence!
One can only hope, therefore, that said 'particular parts of the country' are well represented at tonight's dinner?