§ Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich)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 of 1,200 redundancies in British Rail Engineering Ltd. in Crewe, Derby and York.The matter is specific, because BREL announced these 1,200 redundancies on Friday morning of last week. It is important because, at the time when practically every part of British Rail, including its freight and passenger services, desperately need investment in new rolling stock, we are dissipating a skilled work force that is capable of competing with anyone in the world.
It is a matter for urgent consideration, because there is no conceivable justification for a firm that, fewer than two years ago, took over the taxpayers' assets at considerable benefit to itself and announced a profit of £22.4 million, now imposing this unacceptable level of unemployment. If the House of Commons does not concern itself with the unemployment of a large number of skilled engineers, it will not be fulfilling its proper task, which is to make sure that, in a difficult time, our manufacturing industry can compete.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 20 for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that she thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the announcement of 1,200 redundancies in British Rail Engineering Ltd. in Crewe, Derby and York.I have listened with care to what the hon. Lady has said, but she knows that the decision that I have to take is whether to give this matter precedence over the business set down for today or tomorrow. I hope that she will have other opportunities to raise the matter, but it does not meet the criteria of the Standing Order. Therefore, I cannot submit her application to the House.