The government has been accused of throwing the people of Cumbria under a bus following its failure to commit to an alternative Moorside plan.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock slammed Business Secretary Greg Clark in parliament yesterday after submitting an urgent question, which forced the secretary of state to attend the House of Commons.

Following a statement from Mr Clark, Mr Woodcock, an independent MP, said: "And so, the people of Cumbria are thrown under the bus."

He said the Business Secretary had to be "dragged to the chamber" to speak, "rather than offering a statement proactively for a project which will affect up to 21,000 jobs in the constituency of the honourable member for Copeland and many more in my own constituency and across Cumbria".

"The fact that in his initial statement he did not commit to a new civil nuclear power plant in the Cumbria area is just not good enough.

"It is not good enough for the government to hide behind the idea that this is a commercial decision because he knows that if the government had offered terms to NuGen, to Kepco and to Toshiba which were on a par to other sites in the country, this deal potentially could have been salvaged.

"Does he recognise the hole that losing Moorside will create for the UK's ability to generate low carbon energy and does he see the potentially irreversible decline in absolutely essential nuclear skills in Cumbria for the nation if civil nuclear is not allowed to go ahead on the site?"

Copeland MP Trudy Harrison, who was set to hold an urgent meeting with Richard Harrington, Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, also questioned Mr Clark, asking him to reassure Copeland that the government backs nuclear power.

Afterwards, she said: “The secretary of state must recognise the demonstrable need for much more electricity in the future and the indisputable, highly skilled nuclear workforce that dominates in Copeland and Cumbria.

“There is nowhere else in the country with our nuclear capability, it is a seventy year old industry which has employed my family and just about every other family in West Cumbria.

“Nuclear is what we do so well, our knowledge is renowned thought the world. Common sense must prevail, the UK needs Moorside and my community is depending on it.”

In response to both Cumbrian MPs, Mr Clark said Toshiba's decision to pull out of the Moorside deal was "a commercial one".

"The Moorside site in West Cumbria is owned by the NDA and the land will revert back to the NDA," he said. "It remains a potential site for a nuclear new build and the NDA will consider a range of options for its future."

He said the government was "fully committed to new nuclear", listing a number of other projects, including Hinckley Point C which is under construction.

However, he said "all projects are developer lead" and must "demonstrate value for money compared to alternative sources of electricity generation available at the time".

Mr Clark recognised that the failed deal "will be disappointing but not unexpected to the people of West Cumbria".

"One thing is certain, West Cumbria will continue to be the centre for excellence in civil nuclear. It is of huge strategic importance to the UK and a source of large numbers of highly skilled, well paid jobs and will be for many decades to come.

"There is a very bright future for the highly skilled workforce now and in the future in my honourable friend's constituency."