GKN Automotive alternative plan

That this House is alarmed by GKN Automotive’s decision to close its Birmingham factory next year, with the loss of over 500 highly skilled jobs and work transferred to continental Europe; notes that GKN’s origins trace back to the industrial revolution, with over 260 years of history that include making cannonballs for the Battle of Waterloo and parts for Spitfires in the Battle of Britain; further notes that GKN was subject to a hostile takeover in 2018 by venture capitalists Melrose Industries with promises made to rebuild the company into a British manufacturing powerhouse; is disappointed that GKN has rejected Unite the union’s alternative business plan to save the factory, which is a major supplier to car plants across the West Midlands; believes that, with the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles ending in 2030, there is an urgent need to develop domestic infrastructure for producing electric vehicles; further believes that the factory can play a key role in the transition to electric vehicles by producing vital components such as the e-Drive axel, an existing GKN technology; welcomes assurances from Ministers that they are committed to doing what they can to save these high-skilled jobs, which could involve investment in capital equipment or skills to stoke the plant’s competitiveness (Official Report, 28 April 2021, Cols 127WH 128WH); and calls on GKN to work with the Government and Unite to secure a viable future for the factory, and on the Government to provide whatever support is needed to achieve this.