§ Mr. Hugh Bayley (York)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 896 redundancies announced yesterday by ABB Transportation Ltd." [Interruption.]
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I would appreciate it if hon. Members leaving would do so quietly so that we might continue our business. I hope that hon. Members will show courtesy to the hon. Gentleman who now has the Floor.
§ Mr. BayleyThe redundancies were at the company's York, Derby and Crewe works.
Those shocking redundancies are the direct result of an explosive mixture of two Government policies—the cut in rail investment to the lowest level in real terms since 1948 and the hiatus caused by rail privatisation.
The redundancies are not an unlucky accident; they have not come out of the blue. I have been warning about them for many months, as have my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Mrs. Beckett) and my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody).
The Railway Industry Association told the Transport Select Committee:
We are staring annihilation in the face.In its report, the Select Committee said:We call upon the Government to address as a matter of extreme urgency the problem of the hiatus in railway investment…to ensure that sufficient manufacturing capacity survives.The House should be debating urgently whether the Government wish this country to retain the ability to manufacture trains, or whether they simply intend to buy them in from abroad, putting yet greater strain on the country's balance of payments.ABB has done all it can to make itself competitive and attract orders. It has invested £20 million in the York works and made it the most modern railway factory in Europe. The work force have done all they can to improve the qualitys and competitiveness of the work. They have created a world-beating facility, and ABB is the last true British train manufacturer. Other companies compete against it, but they do not build the whole train; they buy in the body shells from abroad and assemble components to them.
146 If we want to retain the ability to build trains, the country must retain ABB. In the autumn statement last year, the Chancellor promised £150 million of leasing finance to save the rail industry. In March, I met the Minister for Public Transport—whom I see in his place —and he promised a decision by Easter, but that decision has not come. It could, however, have saved these jobs. At the Conservative party conference, the President of the Board of Trade said that he would intervene before breakfast and before lunch. Which meal will he skip to intervene now?
The House urgently needs a debate so that the Secretary of State for Transport can make a speedy announcement about who will get the orders from the £150 million, thus saving jobs in my constituency and in those of my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich and my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South.
§ Madam SpeakerI have listened carefully to what the hon. Member has said and I have to give my decision without stating any reasons. I am afraid that I do not consider that the matter which he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20. I therefore cannot submit his application to the House.