HC Deb 10 May 1990 vol 172 c410 4.18 pm
Ms. Dawn Primarolo (Bristol, South)

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 shock announcement at noon today of the closure of the Imperial Tobacco factory in Brisol, South with the loss of 696 jobs. The announcement, which is the direct trading of jobs for land speculation in Bristol, stunned the work force and Bristol. The matter is important because Bristol, South is an area of long-term high unemployment. The work force are isolated because of poor, inefficient public transport. When the factory was built in 1970, the then W.D. and H.O. Wills promised us that, with the revolutionary design of its factory, it could convert production from tobacco to confectionery in a week.

Hanson plc, which owns Imperial Tobacco, is a vast and wealthy corporation and could have afforded alternative production. W.D. and H.O. Wills, Imperial and Hanson have historic links with Bristol and have made their fortunes on the back of the Bristol work force.

The closure has been announced as a result of the closures in the run-up to 1992. The Bristol work force will be unemployed, not because it lacks skills but because the company is too greedy to diversify.

I ask for an emergency debate because this important matter has implications for Bristol and for our manufacturing base. The Hanson corporation which advertises its international success, has brought unemployment to Bristol. For Bristol, 1992 means unemploy-ment, and that is a matter which we should discuss.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Bristol, South (Ms. Primarolo) seeks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing an important and specific matter that she believes should have urgent consideration, namely, The announcement at noon today of the closure of the Imperial Tobacco factory at Bristol with the loss of 696 jobs. I have listened with concern to what the hon. Lady has to say about the matter, but, as she knows, the decision that I have to take is whether to give her application precedence over the business set down for today or Monday. I regret that in this case the matter that she has raised does not meet the requirements of the Standing Order. I therefore cannot submit her application to the House.