MP COMMENTS AS CONSULTATION CLOSES ON DEFENCE CUTS

MP COMMENTS AS CONSULTATION CLOSES ON DEFENCE CUTS

As the consultation closes today (Thursday) over the future of 125 defence jobs at a rocket testing facility and its associated sites in the Hebrides, Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has appealed to UK Government to take account of the social and economic consequences of the job loses.

Mr MacNeil said:

“The loss of these jobs would be a devastating blow for our fragile island economy, and the UK Government have a social and economic responsibility to stop these cuts from going ahead.

“The community campaign has won cross-party backing, and the Labour Government should get behind that consensus.

“We are talking about one in six jobs being lost in an already fragile community, and the impact of that would be a hammer-blow. In the teeth of recession these job loses could not come at a worse moment, and it would be unforgivable if UK Ministers did nothing to stop these cuts.

“QinetiQ, who operate the sites, is the privatised research arm of the Ministry of Defence, and so the buck stops with the UK Government – Labour Ministers must take immediate action to reverse what would be a reckless decision.”