Unite the union is urging the UK government to stop the ‘infighting’ and provide Brexit certainty amid stark warnings from Airbus.
In a Brexit risk assessment published yesterday, the aircraft manufacturer said if the UK leaves the European Union next year without without any transition deal, it would lead to ‘severe disruption and interruption of UK production’.
“This scenario would force Airbus to reconsider its investments in the UK, and its long-term footprint in the country,” it said, adding the warning was not part of ‘project fear’ but a ‘dawning reality’.
Unite warned that a ‘cliff edge’ Brexit was becoming a ‘cold hard reality’ and urged the government to take the warnings seriously.
It said Airbus relies on ‘frictionless’ trade and needs regulatory agreements between the European Aviation Safety Agency and the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority and other regulatory bodies to ensure that planes manufactured with UK made content can be licensed for use.~
~
"Airbus supports 110,000 jobs in the UK. Its stark warnings of the uncertainty facing the aerospace industry cannot be dismissed by ministers and ‘hard Brexiteers’," said Steve Turner, Unite assistant general secretary with responsibility for aerospace.
"It would be a betrayal of Airbus workers, their families and the tens of thousands workers in the wider supply chain if the government failed to secure frictionless trade and access to the customs union and single market."
~
