Jack Sargeant MS has led calls for an aerospace sector bailout in bid to save jobs at Airbus

Alyn and Deeside’s Member of the Senedd – The Welsh Parliament –  is calling on the UK Government to bail out the aerospace sector and save highly skilled jobs in Flintshire. 

Airbus announced on Tuesday that it is looking to cut 15,000 of its global workforce, the largest downsizing in its history.

The company said it wants to reduce the UK workforce by 1,700.

Airbus employs 6000 people at Broughton where the bulk of the cuts are expected to come from.

Jack Sargeant today asked an Emergency question in the Senedd as well as questioning the FM during the weekly First Ministers Questions, Jack used the questions to call for a bailout for the aerospace industry.

Jack asked First Minister Mark Drakeford: “I appreciate the continued support of the Welsh Government.

But I must say I am absolutely furious and, frankly, upset. For months now, I have been telling the UK Government that they must intervene to support jobs in the aviation and aerospace sector, and, honestly, I’ve heard nothing back.

This is an industry that had full order books.

This is not the fault of the company nor its workforce. When the Governments needed ventilators a few months ago, this workforce stepped up to the plate and produced 10,000 ventilators.

The UK Government have a choice they bail out the industry or they let my community down once again.  First Minister, will you speak directly with Boris Johnson and tell him that he must act now?”

In response, Mark Drakeford said: “I thank Jack Sargeant for that and for his long-standing commitment to Airbus and to its workforce.

When I last visited there on 30 January, it was with Jack, and we were there to celebrate apprenticeship week.

We met a fantastic group of very talented, very bright, very committed young people, looking to a successful future in an industry in which, at that point, had a very successful future in front of it.

What we have to do, working together with the UK Government, is to find a way of helping this industry to bridge between the difficulties it faces today and the successful future that is still there for it, provided we can help it through the difficult couple of years ahead.

And there are many actions that can be taken – things we will do to continue to support apprenticeships, to develop the skills of the workforce, to invest in research and development, and then there is the part the UK Government has to play.

Our colleague Ken Skates spoke yesterday with Ministers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He was talking to the Secretary of State at BEIS on Friday.

This week of course I will talk to any Minister in the UK Government to press the case for the sort of sector-specific help that is now needed, as the French Government has done, as the German Government has done, to demonstrate that the world-leading aviation sector that we have in Wales and in the United Kingdom goes on being supported by Governments here at all levels.”