Barnoldswick Rolls-Royce job cuts a 'betrayal', says MP

Rolls-Royce said its "number one priority" was providing support for its colleagues

Rolls-Royce's proposals to cut 350 jobs in Lancashire "betrays local workers", an MP has said.

The aerospace firm has announced plans to merge two factories in Barnoldswick and move some operations to Singapore.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said it was "devastating" after the firm had given "reassurances after reassurances" the site in Asia would not affect production in Lancashire.

Rolls Royce said its "top priority" was providing support for its colleagues.

'Historic shock'

In June, the engineering giant said it would be cutting 200 jobs in Barnoldswick due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday the company confirmed it intends to stop making wide chord fan blades for new jet engines at the Bankfield site and move the work to Singapore by 2023.

The nearby Ghyll Brow base would then be incorporated into Bankfield.

Mr Stephenson, a Conservative, said: "People have travelled from this factory to Singapore to help establish this factory and now we see production being off-shored to Singapore."

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said the decision was "really worrying".

Chief executive officer Miranda Barker said the redundancies would have a "knock on effect for hundreds of suppliers across Lancashire".

A spokesperson for Rolls-Royce said in a statement the pandemic had created a "historic shock in civil aviation" as it announced a pre-tax loss of £5.4bn for the first half of this year.

"Demand for our civil aerospace products and services has fallen significantly and we've had to take difficult, but necessary decisions.

The spokesperson said it was consulting with trade unions and employee representatives, adding it would "understandably be very worrying for everyone working in Barnoldswick, and our number one priority is to provide support to our employees and their families".

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