'No plan' to save Alexander Dennis bus firm jobs
Unions have described delays in drafting a plan to support workers at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis as a "political failure".Earlier this month it emerged the company was planning to move its full operation to a site in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.It intends to close two sites in Falkirk and Larbert and consolidate the work south of the border, which could lead to the loss of 400 jobs.A 45-day consultation on the plan is currently under way but the unions want it extended as the plant begins its annual two-week Falkirk Fair shutdown on Friday.
On Wednesday unions gave evidence to Holyrood's Economy and Fair Work Committee.MSPs are examining Alexander Dennis' proposals to close its Falkirk operation and end manufacturing in nearby Larbert.Robert Deavy, from the GMB union, and Derek Thomson, from Unite, were questioned by MSPs for just over an hour.Mr Thomson said: "Our concern grows and grows by the day as there's no immediate plan coming forward."Mr Deavy described the situation as "a political failure that requires a political solution".He called for trade unions, politicians and the company to come together.
The Scottish government previously said it would leave "no stone unturned" to try to save the site, including the possibility of a time-limited furlough scheme.Mr Thomson told the committee this could be used to try to prevent job losses.In theory it would support staff for a few months until work on new bus orders could get under way.He believed guidance from the Cabinet Office could make the direct award of work possible.Mr Deavy said a furlough scheme would be a "last resort" and that the company had told them that conversations with the Scottish and UK governments on a such a proposal had been very vague.He said the most important thing in the short term was to try to win new contracts.The trade union official also warned that there had been no reassurance from the company that, if they won new contracts, the work would go to Falkirk and Larbert.The unions were asked if they knew why the company had chosen to consolidate operations in Scarborough rather than Scotland.Mr Deavy responded: "We raised that but got a frosty reception."He noted that pay in Scotland was £1.87 an hour more than in Scarborough but the union did not want to talk about a race to the bottom.The unions also said investment was needed in the Falkirk site although the Larbert operation was modern.Mr Thomson said the unions would hope to have some idea of the UK and Scottish governments plans by Friday.MSPs were also told buses built in China are around £100,000 cheaper than buses built at the Scottish factories facing closure.Representatives of Alexander Dennis are due to give evidence to the committee on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
9 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Swinney apology to Gypsy Travellers ‘significant milestone', campaigner says
Roseanna McPhee welcomed the apology, which she said was the result of years of campaigning. John Swinney made the formal apology at Holyrood on Thursday over 'unfair and unjust policies' that caused 'trauma' in what was known as the 'tinker experiment'. Between 1940 and 1980, the so-called experiment – supported by councils and the UK Government – attempted to strip away the nomadic lifestyle of Gypsy Travellers, providing rudimentary and often cramped huts for people to live in. A report published by the Scottish Government stated that 'the context within which the TE (tinker experiment) occurred is best understood as cultural genocide'. Ms McPhee, whose family was among those settled in Pitlochry on the former Bobbin Mill site, had grown up in a prefabricated Second World War-style Nissen hut which had no electricity and used candles for light. She welcomed the First Minister's apology, but said more needed to be done to stop the discrimination that her community continues to face. First Minister @JohnSwinney has apologised in @ScotParl for historical policies affecting Gypsy/Traveller communities, acknowledging they were unacceptable and caused enduring harm. More information here: — Scot Gov Fairer (@ScotGovFairer) June 25, 2025 She told the PA news agency: 'It's a milestone that we have reached in our long, long campaign, with no resources and just two or three generals and few food soldiers, really, because most people want to hide. 'I think the fact we managed to achieve that apology from the Government is a significant milestone. 'We're hopeful that discussions shall move forward, and perhaps something may be done about the general level of racism which we suffer, particularly in relation to public bodies.' Ms McPhee said the apology could have been 'more robust' and expressed disappointment that Mr Swinney did not label the Tinker Experiment as 'cultural genocide', the description used in the report published by the Government. 'Cultural genocide is a crime against humanity,' she said. 'They did not name the offence. They did not say they took full responsibility of the offence. 'However, it's a positive step on the road towards the discussion around restitution and just satisfaction.' Asked if she believed the Scottish Government should offer redress to affected families, she said: 'I absolutely believe it. 'If you'd been kept in degrading conditions as long as I have, with 16 health conditions and prevented from working with a joint-honours degrees and two post-graduates I think you might see some reason to have redress too.'
The National
28 minutes ago
- The National
Why you won't hear about child poverty improving in Scotland
A study carried out by The Big Issue magazine reports that the incidence of child poverty in Scotland has dropped by 12% since the Scottish Government introduced reduction targets into law in 2017. This is equivalent to 21,000 children who are no longer living in poverty. However, over the same time period, the incidence of child poverty in England and in Labour-run Wales increased by 15%. The magazine writes that England and Wales must follow the lead of Scotland and set legal targets to reduce child poverty. READ MORE: Nato chief calls Donald Trump 'Daddy' during press conference An analysis of UK child poverty statistics which was conducted alongside the publication of a new Big Issue report, highlights the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017, which introduced statutory targets for reducing child poverty, as marking a divergence in the trajectories of the issue of child poverty in the various nations of the UK. Since the passing of the Act in Scotland, there has been a 27% divergence in the incidence of child poverty between Scotland on the one hand and England and Wales on the other. The Scottish government's landmark act, which received royal assent and passed into law in December 2017, was the cause of the start of a significant divergence in child poverty levels between the home nations. Before 2018, Scotland had seen similar rises in relative child poverty to England and Wales. Child poverty in Scotland rose by 19% between 2015 and 2018, only marginally slower than England and Wales at 23%. The Big Issue is calling on the UK Government to introduce similar statutory targets for reducing child poverty in England and Wales, citing Scotland as an example of how significant progress can be made. (Image: PA) The rise of poverty in the UK over recent decades is a shameful story of government failure and the capitulation of the British government to the interests of the wealthy. Currently in the UK, 3.8 million people are living in destitution, the most extreme form of poverty. This is defined as when people struggle to keep themselves warm, clean, fed, and clothed. Shockingly, this number is rising markedly; destitution has more than doubled in the UK over the last 7 years. Meanwhile, income inequality has grown more rapidly in the UK than in other developed economies. The UK is now the ninth most unequal economy out of the 38 OECD countries. Wealth inequality in the UK is far worse than income inequality, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the top fifth of the population take 36% of the UK's income and hold 63% of its wealth, while the bottom fifth of the population have only 8% of the income and a mere 0.5% of the wealth. It is categorically not that there is no money to tackle poverty, it's that the rich are jealously hoarding it like a dragon curled up on a pile of gold and jewels, and governments are full of politicians who are in effect clients of the dragons, bought and paid for with political donations. (Image: PA) Scotland's government lacks the full powers of an independent state, but even with the limited economic levers at its disposal, the Scottish Government has achieved a remarkable success in reducing the incidence of child poverty in Scotland. As part of the UK, Scotland is subject to the economic constraints imposed upon it by the government in Westminster, but has still managed to reduce child poverty in Scotland. What this proves is that the rise in child poverty in the rest of the UK is a political choice, a damning political choice which tells us that Westminster is morally bankrupt. A report on the findings of the latest British Social Attitudes survey has laid bare the disconnection between the Labour government, the main British political parties and what people actually want. This disconnection is starkest when it comes to the issue of Brexit. A large majority of people in the UK, 63%, would support rejoining the EU if the issue was put to them in a referendum. This figure is even higher in Scotland where some polls have put the figure at 70%. Most of those who voted Labour in last year's Westminster general election supported rejoining the EU. Yet despite this Labour doggedly doubles down on Theresa May's red lines and refuses to countenance even rejoining the European single market and customs union. Meanwhile, new polling from YouGov finds that voters who have deserted Labour since last year's general election are much more likely to vote Green or Lib Dems, than Reform. Green and Lib Dem defectors are also much more likely to consider switching back to Labour than Reform voters who overwhelmingly say they're committed to Farage's party. But Starmer continues in his quixotic and damaging pursuit of Reform UK, adopting policies which ramp up the performative cruelty against migrants and asylum seekers and throwing the LGBT community under the bus. Today, Labour government figures are still insisting that they intend to follow through on their deeply damaging cuts to benefits payments to the disabled, some of the most vulnerable in society, in the face of a growing rebellion amongst its own backbenchers. Yesterday 108 Labour MPs had signed an amendment to the government's bill, which would effectively kill it. In response, the government reportedly called Labour MPs to tell them that the vote would effectively be a vote of confidence in Keir Starmer, whereupon the number of Labour MPs who signed the amendment rose to 120. It is believed senior cabinet ministers, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, called MPs who had signed the amendment to try to convince them to vote with the government, with very little success. Never mind being a government that is disconnected from its voters, Starmer's government is disconnected from its own MPs. Pressure is also growing on Anas Sarwar, who had expressed his support for the cuts, after a tenth Labour MP representing a Scottish constituency signed the amendment opposing the cuts. Glasgow North East MP Maureen Burke added her name to the amendment yesterday, joining fellow Labour MPs Patricia Ferguson, Brian Leishman, Tracy Gilbert, Scott Arthur, Richard Baker, Lilian Jones, Elaine Stewart, Kirsteen Sullivan, and Euan Stainbank.
Sky News
31 minutes ago
- Sky News
Scottish government apologises for 'cultural genocide' of gypsy travellers
Scotland's First Minister has formally apologised to the gypsy traveller community for the decades of trauma they suffered during the so-called "tinker experiment". John Swinney said the "unfair and unjust" policies, enforced by councils and the UK government between 1940 and 1980, had been "unacceptable". The "experiment" attempted to strip away the nomadic lifestyle of gypsy travellers by rehousing them in low-quality Nissen-type huts, repurposed military buildings and other disused properties at sites across Scotland. When families became too big for the cramped accommodation, their children would sometimes be taken away, either into temporary care or permanently – with some adopted in the UK or overseas. Mr Swinney's apology came following the publication of a new independent report published by the Scottish government, which stated: "The context within which the TE [tinker experiment] occurred is best understood as cultural genocide". The report, based on research from the University of St Andrews, found that the types of accommodation gypsy travellers were relocated to were "known by government agents to be substandard". It said the properties were "frequently without" electricity and running water. Researchers said the "experiment" was part of a "recurring societal and institutional dehumanisation of gypsy travellers in Scotland", fuelled by the stereotype of them as practising "a backwards or undeveloped way of life". The report highlighted the role of the UK national government "and specifically the Scottish Office as a primary actor in the construction and enforcement of such policies". But it said local councils, churches and charities were also involved in "constructing the environment" that allowed it to happen. Following its publication, the Church of Scotland also issued "a heartfelt and genuine apology for these historic wrongs". In a statement to Holyrood, Mr Swinney told MSPs: "It is clear to the government that stark prejudice and lack of cultural awareness led to a series of unfair and unjust policies. "These policies resulted in children being removed from families, and families were forced to live in substandard accommodation and degrading conditions. "The trauma that this has caused to individuals, families and groups, including those who regard themselves as 'victims of tinker experiments', is significant and lasting". With some members of the community watching on from Holyrood's public gallery, Mr Swinney added: "As First Minister of Scotland, I want to say this directly to gypsy traveller communities: the 'tinker experiments' should not have happened. "These policies were wrong. And we recognise how much it is still hurting so many. "And more than anything else, I want to say this – on behalf of Scotland, we are sorry."
