HC Deb 21 October 1986 vol 102 c966 4.40 pm
Mr. David Madel (Bedfordshire, South West)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the announcement last month by Bedford Commercial Vehicles that it was to phase out the production of its medium and heavy duty trucks with the result of a reduction in the work force of 1,450 people spread between Dunstable and Luton. The matter is urgent because it follows an earlier announcement by General Motors of hundreds of other job losses as a result of rationalisation at the Luton and Dunstable plants. This not only causes a further shrinking of Bedfordshire's manufacturing base, but will have a serious effect on other local businesses as well as on suppliers of and dealers in Bedford commercial vehicles throughout the country.

The matter is also urgent and should have precedence because when a blow to employment of this magnitude occurs in an area which, since the war, has provided thousands of jobs in manufacturing industry, the House should abandon other business and allow a debate on this matter, given the serious effects that it will have on employment in Bedfordshire and other parts of the country.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Bedfordshire, South-West (Mr. Madel) 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 last month by Bedford Commercial Vehicles that it was to phase out the production of its medium and heavy duty trucks with the result of a reduction in the work force of 1,450 people spread between Dunstable and Luton. Again, I sympathise with the hon. Gentleman in his concern for his constituents, but I regret that I have to give the same answer that I gave before, which is that I do not consider that the matter is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10 and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.