(Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab) [V]...We now have the
proposed closure of the GKN factory in my
constituency. GKNis one of the oldest engineering
companies in Britain. It is 262 years old. It manufactured the
cannonballs for the battle of Waterloo and helped build the
Spitfires during the war. It was taken over three years ago by
Melrose and now faces closure. There are 519 highly skilled workers
who work in that plant.
What happened was utterly outrageous. Crucial now is what
happens. If the company goes to the wall, 519 jobs go, but what
also goes are many more jobs in the supply chain. That would be
bad news for British workers and bad news for British
manufacturing, because we would lose the capacity to make
high-value components. Those jobs will be exported to continental
Europe. That is why I welcome the constructive discussions that
have taken place with the Secretary of State, and I say to him
that the test of the Government in the next stages will be what
they say and what they do, because the solution could be
positive: avoiding the closure of that great historic marque with
50 years of manufacturing for the automotive industry...
(Easington) (Lab) [V]:...I fear that the
investment-led recovery and the levelling-up agenda referred to
by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster
() is set to fall at the first hurdle. The Minister will
no doubt be aware of the plans by the notorious venture
capitalists Melrose Industries to close the GKN Automotive factory in
Birmingham. Indeed, hon. Members may remember the controversy
that surrounded the hostile takeover of GKN by Melrose in 2018. Serious
concerns were raised at the time by Unite the union and hon. and
right hon. Members in this House about the implications of that
takeover for national security and for the future of the
GKN brand. In an attempt to
allay these fears, Melrose promised to rebuild GKN into a British
manufacturing powerhouse. It was a horrible promise. Five hundred
highly skilled workers at the Chester Road site are now facing
the sack.
The news of the planned closure has come as a shock to the
workforce and to their union, which until recently had been in
discussions with management about boosting investment into the
site. Melrose maintains that the plant is unviable owing to the
transition to vehicle electrification. Unite the union disputes
this and is developing a rescue plan that will secure a bright
future for the site. I want to place on record my concern that
Melrose’s chief executive officer, Simon Peckham, misled MPs on
the BEIS Committee last month about the kind of work that takes
place on-site. With the Government bringing forward their ban on
the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 to 2030, the
shift to battery electric vehicle production is more urgent than
ever, but it is vital that that transition to electric vehicles
is investment-led and sustainable.
GKN can trace its origins back to the
birth of the industrial revolution. It has more than 250 years of
history. The Government owe it to British manufacturing and to
this prestigious company, one of the largest UK industrial
companies, to defend its future as we make a shift from the
internal combustion engine to electric vehicles. I urge the
Government to join Unite the union in urging Melrose to examine
alternatives to the closure of the GKN automotive plant, and to
prevent Melrose from asset-stripping and then disposing of this
important British company.
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