{"id":8180,"date":"2016-03-21T15:35:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T15:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8180"},"modified":"2016-03-22T14:29:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T14:29:20","slug":"for-the-future-of-our-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8180","title":{"rendered":"For the future of our communities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tens of thousands of skilled defence jobs are at risk from an \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unpatriotic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 purchasing strategy that sees increasing amounts of UK defence expenditure flow to the US.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That was the message from Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, as he addressed hundreds of the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defence manufacturing members at a specially convened conference in Preston today (Monday 21 March), warning them that the Conservative party is playing politics with their jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While the media spotlight has been on the political parties as the Conservatives dawdles on parliamentary time to debate the Successor programme, and the Labour party undergoes a review of its defence policy, Unite says that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of strategic approach to defence procurement has been incurring heavy domestic costs and is denying the industry a long-term future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Unite, the biggest union in defence manufacturing, 50,000 skilled defence manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last decade, leaving the sector with a skills shortage. More jobs are in danger such as those at BAe in Warton where five thousand jobs will go over the next four years unless new contracts are forthcoming from the government. Every job lost puts at risk between another five and seven in the supply chain, meaning some 40,000 more jobs are at risk overall.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, the union says that the government must change course which will see it double the percentage of the UK defence budget that goes to support US companies and jobs by 2020, up from 12 pence in every pound to 25 pence. The union says that this money must be redirected to support UK jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Addressing Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defence members, Len McCluskey said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWithout reservation, without equivocation, without hesitation, Unite will defend every last job of our members in the defence industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best of British manufacturing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur clear message to politicians is that this union will never support any public policy which sees our members and their communities thrown on the scrapheap. The skills, productivity and ingenuity they possess are why they represent the best of British manufacturing capabilities, and the best of an industrial tradition that too many politicians have been too careless about for too long.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUp and down the country, communities depend on the defence industry for their prosperity, for jobs, for a future for young people, and for economic security. No trade union that I lead is ever going to allow any of that to be put at risk.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calling for a UK-first policy to determine UK defence spending priorities, Len McCluskey said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTens of thousands of jobs have been lost in defence over the last decade due to short-sighted and fatally flawed government decisions. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bValue for money\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 is used as an argument to buy defence equipment from overseas – usually the USA. But what a false economy that is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSpending British taxpayers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 money buying British-built equipment isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just good for our companies and our jobs – it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also good news for the Treasury who get tax revenues back straight away, and for the UK economy as workers employed here spend money in shops, pubs and restaurants here at home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No-brainer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou would think that buying British-built equipment for our Armed Forces would therefore be a no-brainer – it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious that buying British-built kit is good for the country. So why is this government planning to double the amount of defence pounds spent in the USA by 2020?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey also attacked the Conservative government for causing havoc to the industry and called for contracts to be rewarded now to UK manufacturers: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you need one clear example of the vandalism being wreaked by the Tories on defence then look no further than the utter disgrace of what happened to Nimrod. Five years ago the government ordered the destruction of the MRA4 Nimrods. Workers at Woodford lost their jobs and the UK lost a critical capability to patrol and protect its shores. \u00c2\u01414 billion of investment was written off overnight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWind forward five years and the same Conservative Prime Minister and Chancellor preside over a decision to fill the capability gap they caused by the scrapping of Nimrod. And what do they do? They order replacement planes from the USA. A billion pounds of our money being spent in America to fill a gap this government itself created, on top of the \u00c2\u01414 billion wasted scrapping a world class plane.<\/p>\n

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Incompetent, short-sighted, unpatriotic<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIncompetent, short-sighted, unpatriotic – today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s government in a nutshell.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have called for a sixth generation fighter aircraft to be developed, safeguarding highly skilled jobs for the long term. And our members on the Clyde are battling for the world-class frigate factory they were promised when shipbuilding ended at Portsmouth and 1,775 jobs were lost in shipbuilding, half of those on the Clyde.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turning to the issue of Trident, McCluskey said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet me also make it clear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and there should be no doubt about it – Unite is also right behind every member involved in our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s submarine industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe all understand the politics of the situation. The decision to replace Trident would be in the spotlight whenever it was taken. There is nothing illegitimate in debating the cost, the strategic thinking, or the morality. That is normal in a democratic society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSome are trying to make this all about the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn has the views on disarmament that he has always held, and I think the public are tired of politicians who trim their opinions to fit fashion. I respect that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and him. But the Labour Party must respect this \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite is a trade union and for us, our members, their jobs and their communities must come first. So we will play a full part in Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very welcome Defence Review led by Emily Thornberry, ensuring your concerns and aspirations are fully heard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Playing games with your jobs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut our focus must first of all be on the government. That is where decisions are being made, and the Tories are playing games with your jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are trying to keep the whole issue of nuclear weapons in the news because it embarrasses Labour and covers up their own deep splits over Europe rather than engaging in the debate and responsibly planning for the future of the industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lastly, McCluskey said that the UK government should do as our competitors do and use government spend to support domestic manufacturing: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUK forces should use UK built equipment, protecting UK workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs and contributing to our economy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOf course, this goes beyond the defence sector alone. Britain needs a Britain-first manufacturing procurement policy. A system where British police forces drive cars made in Britain; where British hospitals use medical equipment made in Britain, receiving patients in ambulances made in Britain, where British built trains run on our railways and British ships are made with British steel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a nationalist rant – it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a call for our government to support our economy and our jobs, something that every other government in the world seems to regard as natural.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we did the same, then I believe the whole debate around defence diversification, a debate which has gone exactly nowhere for decades, would be much more realistic.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read the speech<\/a> in full<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tens of thousands of skilled defence jobs are at risk from an \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unpatriotic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 purchasing strategy that sees increasing amounts of UK defence expenditure flow to the US.   That was the message from Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, as he addressed hundreds of the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defence manufacturing members at a specially convened conference in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[484,44],"wps_subtitle":"Unite GS hits out against \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unpatriotic\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Tory defence policy ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8180"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8183,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8180\/revisions\/8183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}