§ Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours (Workington)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 need for a debate on the closure of the Volvo bus plant, formerly known as Leyland National, in my constituency".This matter is urgent, as west Cumbria is now on the eve of a renewed spate of large-scale redundancies. Last week, job losses were announced at Allbright and Wilson, and last weekend Volvo announced the closure of its bus plant in Workington with a loss of 370 jobs. That closure will, from July next year, leave empty a modern factory of 650,000 sq ft in my constituency. The area will face a herculean task if it is to find a new occupier for that factory. The House will also be aware of the impending rundown of the THORP—thermal oxide reprocessing plant—construction project at Sellafield with the loss of several thousand jobs.The matter is important, as Volvo clearly blamed the Government's economic policies for its decision. In the press release announcing the closure, Volvo states:
The actions are the direct result of deregulation of bus services and the recession, which have combined to severely depress demand.The matter is specific, because the Leyland/Volvo plant in Workington is Britain's principal bus producing plant. Surely it cannot be right for a foreign company, faced with recession and a lack of profitability at home, in Sweden, to cut its overseas operations and, in doing so, close down the United Kingdom's strategic bus manufacturing plant. Such a decision is surely a matter for Government.The plant was built under a Labour Government, with a large amount of taxpayers' money, as part of efforts to consolidate bus manufacturing within the United Kingdom. Its loss can lead only to an invasion of imports when the recession ends and the market picks up. In the absence of adequate bus production capacity in the United Kingdom, we can face only danger in terms of the future bus market. I appeal to you, Mr. Speaker, to allow us to have a debate on this matter today.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) 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 Leyland Volvo bus manufacturing plant in Workington, with the loss of 370 jobs, announced this weekend.I have listened with concern to what the hon. Gentleman said about this matter. As he knows, I must decide whether to give this matter precedent over the business set down for today or for tomorrow. I regret that his application does not meet the requirements of the Standing Order. I therefore cannot submit the hon. Gentleman's application to the House. I hope that there may be other opportunities for the hon. Gentleman to raise this matter this week.