British prime minister Boris Johnson has been challenged to spend a fraction of his recently announced no-deal Brexit fund to save the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
Shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Labour MP Tony Lloyd told workers who have occupied the yard that the business must be nationalised if a new buyer cannot be found before administrators are due to move in on Monday.
Mr Lloyd referenced the £2.1 billion (€2.3 billion) Mr Johnson was spending preparing the UK for a no-deal Brexit as he addressed the 24/7 picket at the front gates of the east Belfast yard on Thursday.
‘Manufacturing future’
“It’s common sense to say to this government if you are prepared to spend £2 billion on a potential no-deal Brexit, which would cost 40,000 jobs across Northern Ireland, spend a little bit of money investing in this yard, making sure there is a manufacturing future here in Belfast.”
Harland & Wolff, a business synonymous with Belfast’s industrial heyday, has been up for sale amid serious financial problems at its Norwegian parent company. An emergency meeting of Belfast City Council to discuss the yard’s future is scheduled for Friday. The yard, which once employed thousands but currently has a workforce of about 130, has diversified away from shipbuilding in the last two decades and now primarily works on wind energy and marine engineering projects. – PA
