§ 81. Sir C. Osborneasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that 2,000 workers in Wigan and Little-borough, near Rochdale, are about to be dismissed because two cotton mills are to be closed down permanently; and since four other mills have been closed by the same firm, what action he proposes to take to help this big textile group over its difficulties so as to keep its workpeople fully employed.
§ Mr. JayProduction at the two mills to which the hon. Member refers is to be phased out over a period of months. The closure of all the mills concerned is stated by the Group to be part of a programme of rationalisation designed to increase productivity by the concentration of production in modernised and re-equipped factories owned by them.