Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, has expressed his huge disappointment at the news BAE Systems plan to cut approximately 340 jobs in Portsmouth, with a total of 1,750 jobs expected to be lost across the company’s aerospace and marine divisions.
Commenting on the proposed job losses, Stephen Morgan MP said:
“This is terrible news for the workers, their families and our great city. These are highly-skilled, hardworking men and women who deserve better.
I have already been in contact with the unions and BAE Systems, as well the appropriate Government Minister, to express my serious concern about the impact these job losses could have not only on families in our city but also Portsmouth’s wider economy”.
There are calls on Government to guarantee that long-term projects, such as the next generation fighter jets, future support ships and Type 31e frigates, will be designed and built here in the UK.
Stephen added:
“The Government are hollowing out the UK’s sovereign defence capability by spending increasing amounts of the defence budget in factories overseas.
It is time the Government acted to invest UK taxes here and supply our industry and the nation with a proper defence industrial strategy to provide certainty and protect British workers from further job cuts”.
Stephen has committed to continuing to work with local unions to stand with them to ensure everything is done to try to protect jobs in Portsmouth.
He added:
“I will not stand by and let short term decisions harm our city’s communities, jobs and skills.
I stand with them to fight for every job and support every community under threat.
The Government – as one of BAE Systems biggest customers – must come forward urgently with a clear plan to secure these jobs at BAE and give the industry the certainty that it needs”.
