HC Deb 27 November 1986 vol 106 cc465-6 5.22 pm
Mr. Jack Straw (Blackburn)

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 announcement today of 275 redundancies at the royal ordnance factory Blackburn, and the implications of this decision for the royal ordnance factory organisation as a whole. When those 275 redundancies come into effect, employment at royal ordnance factory Blackburn will be down to 1,700. That is a reduction of nearly 1,000 jobs in six years. When the ROFs were under secure public ownership during the period of the Labour Government, employment in them in the United Kingdom as a whole, and in the Blackburn factory, rose. It is no coincidence that, since the Government embarked upon their policy of the privatisation of royal ordnance factories, there has been a haemorrhaging of employment in those factories across the United Kingdom. The matter is obviously specific and its importance lies in the significance of today's announcement, not only for my constituency, but for the 18,000 employees of ROF plc as a whole.

Five weeks ago an independent report on the future of the royal ordnance factories, by Mr. David Greenwood, of the centre for defence studies at Aberdeen university, predicted that the sell-off of the royal ordnance factories would lead to a loss of 6,000 jobs in two years. Today's announcement is the first stage in that process. The matter is so urgent that unless it is debated today, and Government policy reversed, many hundreds more of my constituents, and thousands more employees in the ROFs as a whole, will lose their jobs.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely, the announcement today of 275 redundancies at royal ordnance factory Blackburn, and the implications of this decision for the royal ordnance factory organisation as a whole. Again, I have listened to what the hon. Gentleman has said and fully appreciate his concern for his constituents. However, I regret to say that I do not consider the matter as being appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20 and I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House.