Lorely Listens 15th February 2006

Written by Lorely Burt MP and published in Solihull Times on Wed 15th Feb 2006

I was in New York last week with members of the Treasury Select Committee when I got a call at 4am in the morning. It was from Land Rover saying they were to make good their promise to move the Freelander production to Halewood and 1,300 jobs were to go.

Although these job losses had been announced some time ago, it still came as a huge shock. I felt like jumping on a plane to Detroit to tell the Ford President he should reconsider, but there was little point: these jobs had been existing on borrowed time, called over 18 months ago.

The best thing I can do now is to get as much help for Solihull as possible. Ford have announced that their compensation package will be generous: I'll check that out, and liaise with government agencies to see what help can be found to support our people and our area.

Meanwhile, back in America, the Treasury Select Committee learned that another president who inherited a $5 trillions surplus had turned it into a $2 trillions loss during the course of his office. And the American budget just announced consolidates tax cuts for the rich and cuts benefits for the poor.

On the plus side we found some useful information about globalisation, particularly from the IMF and World Bank, and they do have some good ideas on helping small businesses start up and to encourage poorer people to make better use of the little money they have.

So we'll learn the lessons from America to make better decisions for British people. But our thoughts and my concerns for the time being must be closer to home: with those workers, their families and communities in for a tough time in Solihull.