Jobs lost in London as defence firm slashes costs

BAE axes 3000 workers in face of falling military spending around the world. Photo / Thinkstock

The meeting lasted only 20 minutes but it confirmed the worst fears of the 1300 workers who had gathered in the structural test shed of BAE's advanced engineering plant at Brough, East Yorkshire. After 96 years, aerospace manufacture was to end on the site.

Within minutes the first of the cars began streaming through the factory gate as they made their way home to an uncertain future.

It took nearly an hour for them all to pass through - 899 men and women now facing redundancy after receiving the news that construction of the Hawk trainer was to be switched to another plant.

Some were tearful, others grim-faced and angry after what was described as the darkest day in British high-skill manufacturing in 40 years.

Across the Pennines it was a similar story with 843 jobs going at Warton near Preston and a further 565 at Samlesbury, Lancashire.

BAE Systems finally confirmed the details that had leaked out at the weekend: a total of 3000 jobs were to be cut in order to make the company more competitive in the face of falling defence spending around the world.

There are to be 78 redundancies at headquarters in Farnborough, 132 in Yeovil and dozens more at more than 20 sites across Britain and overseas.

But it was in the manufacturing heartlands of the northwest and East Yorkshire - areas already severely hit by public sector cuts - that the redundancies were most severe.

The final figure for jobs lost in BAE's 9000-strong supply chain and associated service industries could ultimately reach 15,000 and cost the economy hundreds of millions of pounds.

Announcing the news, BAE Systems' chief executive Ian King, said: "Our customers are facing huge pressures on their defence budgets and affordability has become an increasing priority. Our business needs to rise to this challenge to maintain its competitiveness and ensure its long-term future."

The decision and the manner in which it was executed were widely condemned by unions and the Labour Party, which called for an inquiry into the leaking of the news.

In his leader's speech at the party conference, Ed Miliband said workers had been "sold down the river" while Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber said that the job losses were "yet another devastating body blow to our manufacturing base".

- Independent