Ministers pressed to explain job cuts

Rolls-Royce has suffered from the aviation slump

A Conservative MP has asked the government to explain why almost 4,000 UK workers are to lose their jobs at Rolls Royce.

East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight was speaking after the aircraft engine maker announced 5,000 job cuts worldwide as it struggles with a slump in demand from the crisis-hit aviation industry.

We as a government...will do everything we can to ensure these very skilled workers get new jobs

Patricia Hewitt
Trade Secretary

The firm's Derby plant is expected to take 1,900 of the 3,800 losses announced in the UK.

Other affected factories are in Sunderland, Barnoldswick in Lancashire and Hillington near Glasgow.

Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt has already promised the government will do all it can to help those hit by the cuts to find new jobs.

Challenge to ministers

Mr Knight, who used to represent Derby North, asked Commons Speaker Michael Martin on Friday if the government would be making a statement on the cuts.

He said: "It appears that some 3,800 people in the UK are to be thrown onto the dole queue and surely a minister should come to this house today to make a statement about this matter."

Mr Martin said he once worked at Rolls-Royce and had an affinity with the company but did not yet have information on any statement.

Knight wants ministers to make a statement

Speaking before the official announcement was made, Ms Hewitt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was an "enormously anxious time" for Rolls-Royce workers.

"It is a very difficult time, of course, for aerospace companies and in particular Rolls-Royce because of the effects of September 11 and the fact that so many airline companies are simply cancelling their order."

But Rolls-Royce was a "very strong company" and very important for the UK economy, said the trade secretary.

She added: "We as a government, and I am sure the company itself, will do everything we can to ensure these very skilled workers get new jobs."

Derby North MP Bob Laxton said the cuts now expected at the Derby plant were not as bad as he initally thought.

But it was a "gloomy morning", he said, pointing to the "huge knock-on" effect faced by supply chain companies.

Local economy blow

Mr Laxton told BBC News Online: "It is bad news for Derby and the local economy. It will be devastating for those people who lose their jobs - I do not know what the arrangements will be yet."

But he was optimistic that Derby's economy was buoyant and offered the hope of alternative work for many hit by the cuts.

Hewitt promises government help

The MP, who is parliamentary private secretary to Employment Relations and Regions minister Alan Johnson, said the East Midlands Regional Development Agency, local councils and other groups were looking at how to help.

Speaking about a possible government aid package, he said: "Whether that involves some financial assistance to the company remains to be seen."

Danny Carrigan, Scottish regional secretary of the Amalgamated Electrical and Engineering Union (AEEU), is already pressing ministers to provide similar aid for the manufacturing industry as farmers received during the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Manufacturing problems

Liberal Democrat trade and industry spokesman Vincent Cable said many British manufacturers were being forced to lay off staff before "the current economic crisis".

"The government and Rolls-Royce must now actively pursue measures to retrain those workers who are laid off, and give economic help to those local communities," he said.

Derby City Council's chief economic development officer, Richard Williams, said it was not yet known how many of the job losses would be at the Derby plant.

He told BBC News: "It would be a blow if the figures are confirmed as we expect and we are a manufacturing city.

"We are about 50% higher in manufacturing than most UK cities but that is also a strength."