(Paisley and Renfrewshire
North) (SNP): In the last few weeks alone, my constituency has
seen Rolls-Royce announce 700 redundancies,
Menzies Aviation 160 and Swissport 321, all adding to the toll of
expected job losses at British Airways, NCP, easyJet, Jet2,
Flybe, BA CityFlyer, TUI, North Air and SSP. I would have
included Ryanair in that list, but I am pleased to say that it
has just reached an agreement with Unite on temporary pay cuts to
stop the job cuts that had previously been announced. Well done
to them and let that be a lesson to other airlines. Combined,
Renfrewshire will see thousands of households employed in
aviation and aerospace thrown into financial turmoil. Across
Scotland and these islands, the total will very likely be into
six figures. If it is not clear to the Government that aviation
and its supply chain is in the middle of its biggest crisis ever,
it should be now.
By May, the claimant count in my constituency had doubled in the
space of two months and those newly unemployed people had the
added stress of looking for a job in an employment market in its
worst state since the second world war. I mentioned that I have
no doubt the total will rise further. I say that because I see no
urgency on the Treasury Benches to save the aviation and
aerospace industries. In my Adjournment debate on
Rolls-Royce redundancies, the Minister winding
up, the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon
(), lauded the company for
offering voluntary rather than compulsory redundancies. If that
is the strategy, then God help us all. There are many
constituencies like mine where airports play a pivotal role in
the local economy, yet there has not been a cheep from Government
about what support such areas will get to address the particular
challenges our economies face. I hope the Chancellor and his
colleagues at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy can begin work urgently on a plan tailored to
communities hardest hit by the devastation to the aviation
sector...
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