ALYN & Deeside’s MP has joined forces with Chris Matheson, MP for neighbouring City of Chester, to condemn the UK Government as it withdraws a trade dispute with the USA.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss announced that as of January 1, the UK would no longer impose tariffs on American goods, levied as part of a trade dispute over unlawful subsidies to Boeing, whilst acknowledging that this is harmful to Airbus and the UK.

The MPs decry “a devastating blow to the UK aerospace industry”, and “a colossal breach of faith with one of the few sectors where the UK currently enjoys a world-leading status.”

And they warn that with the Conservative government reneging on a commitment made to Airbus to maintain unity in the battle against American subsidies, the message sent by the UK government to Airbus is that this is no longer a safer place to do business – which could harm the long term future of the Broughton plant.

Mark Tami said: “Boris Johnson has failed Airbus workers again after pledging to remove import taxes on American Boeing products. These were brought in to protect workers in the UK and EU from Trump’s attack on their jobs, which has not ended with his election loss. This decision by the Prime Minister puts thousands of Airbus jobs in Broughton at risk. The Government’s focus must be on protecting our jobs, not bending over backwards to please the Americans.”

Chris added: “This announcement is a clear demonstration of the Government’s disregard for the aerospace industry. It is a dreadful act of bad faith, by a government looking to align itself with the US while rejecting anything ‘European’, even the runaway success story that is Airbus.

“Airbus employs 6000 people locally and we recently heard the news that there will be 1400 redundancies at the Broughton plant. To further jeopardise the livelihoods of so many workers in such a vital sector is criminally irresponsible, and we will continue to fight for them even if the government won’t.”