UK facing jobs crisis ‘on a scale not seen for generations’ warns Sir Keir
The UK faces an unemployment crisis “on a scale not seen for generations”, Sir Keir Starmer warned as he stepped up his campaign for a targeted extension of the furlough scheme.
The Labour leader visited North Wales – an area hit hard by job losses at Airbus but also a political battleground where his party lost out to the Tories at the general election – as part of his effort to put pressure on Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Sir Keir said the Labour-led Welsh Government had put in place a £1.7 billion package of support for struggling businesses but decisions on furlough were a matter for Mr Sunak and Boris Johnson.
The furlough scheme finishes at the end of October, but Sir Keir has called for it to be extended for sectors badly hit by the coronavirus lockdown.
Plane manufacturer Airbus announced in July that 1,435 jobs will be cut at its site in Broughton, North Wales, and 295 at Filton, Bristol.
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Sir Keir was joined by Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford and shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds on his visit to an aerospace research and manufacturing facility supported by the Welsh Government yesterday.
He said: “Labour is fighting for jobs across the country. The UK Government’s blanket withdrawal of the furlough scheme is a historic mistake which threatens Welsh jobs.
“The devastating job losses announced at Airbus show how high the stakes are.
“We face a jobs crisis on a scale not seen for generations. But it is not too late for the Government to act.
“The Welsh Government has done a huge amount to support struggling businesses, but the action needed on the furlough scheme can only come from Westminster.
“Welsh Conservative MPs must also play their part in getting their Chancellor to change course.”
Meanwhile, the UK boss of Airbus said prospects for the recovery of the aviation market could be good if people start flying again.
Katherine Bennett, senior vice president of Airbus, said: “The IATA, the global aviation industry experts, say that flights are down by 70 per cent so we need to get people flying again, we’re a long-term industry.
“But the prospects are good if the market restores, which we guess will be in a few years’ time. We need to get more aerospace people working in research centres like this.”
She said there had been 40% reductions in production at Airbus but praised the way employees and trade union representatives had worked with the business.
In June, the aerospace giant announced plans to cut 1,435 jobs at its site in Broughton, North Wales, and 295 at Filton, Bristol, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Katherine Bennett, senior vice president of Airbus, met with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Wales’s First Minister Mark Drakeford at a research facility next to the Broughton factory yesterday as they called for an extension to the UK Government’s furlough scheme.
She said the business was having “constructive discussions” with governments about what support could be given but it was vital people started using air travel again.
