§ Mr. George Howarth (Knowsley, North)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the closure of the Birds Eye factory in Kirkby.Last Friday, the 1,000 workers at the Birds Eye factory received news which, for people in Kirkby and in Merseyside in general, came as a cruel kick in the teeth. At about 10 am they were told that the factory is to close, with the loss of all 1,000 jobs. Job losses are always a cause for concern. But in Knowsley—arguably one of the most deprived areas in the United Kingdom—the job losses are nothing short of a disaster.Over the past 30 years, the people of Kirkby have given a great deal of loyalty to the Birds Eye company. Even now, it is not uncommon for two generations of a family—man or wife and son or daughter—to work together at the factory. Moreover, at a time when the country faces a crisis in manufacturing, the closure represents the loss of real jobs producing goods which, for the most part, have a market. The harsh and sad reality is, such is the scale of unemployment in the area, that, if the proposals are implemented, many of the Birds Eye workers will never work again.
A further cruel and callous twist was added to the drama on Friday. By an unhappy coincidence, the Prime Minister was visiting Liverpool on that day and, as I understand it, purely on the basis of a Birds Eye-Walls press handout, chose to condemn the workers. That is her prerogative, although it would have been much fairer had she first checked the facts.
If the House is representative of the country, arid if we are sensitive to the feelings of men and women in these awful circumstances, we must find time to debate the matter. My constituents will be bitterly disappointed if we do not.
The whole community is behind the Birds Eye workers and their trade unions in the struggle to keep these much-needed jobs. We do not accept the inevitability of the closure and I urge right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House to support the Birds Eye workers and to help them to keep the jobs in Kirkby.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman seeks leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely,
the closure of the Birds Eye factory at Kirkby with a loss of 1,000 jobs.I have listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman said. As he knows, my sole duty is considering his application under Standing Order No. 20 is to decide whether it should be given priority over the business already set down for this evening or for tomorrow. I regret that the matter that he has raised does not meet the requirements of the Standing Order and I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House, although he may have an opportunity to raise the matter later today.