Crumbs of comfort in Liverpool

THE CLOSURE of a Liverpool biscuit factory, and the loss of 2,000 jobs, was this week averted or at least delayed by the intervention of Archbishop Derek Worlock and Anglican Bishop David Sheppard.
After meeting the bishops in London, Sir Hector Laing, chairman of United Biscuits, said he was willing to seriously consider Trade Union plans to avoid the closure of the United Biscuits' Crawfords plant by the end of next year.
Even if these plans are not thought viable, Sir Hector said he would be willing to discuss with local authorities and other local interests ways in which the workforce might remain in employment, perhaps in the production of another product.
These assurances were
contained in a statement issued early this week after the onehour meeting in which the bishops attempted to impress on Sir Hector the effect the closure would have on the morale of people on Merseyside where the unemployment rate is already running at 18.7 per cent.
Since the closure was announced two weeks ago Trade Union leaders have been working on an alternative plan to save the biscuit factory, but the chances of a reprieve look slim.
A far more likely solution, one hinted at by Sir Hector in the statement, is that the plant and buildings on the site will be put to an alternative use in cooperation with industry already established in the area.
Archbishop Worlock's
intervention is part of a growing campaign by churchmen and politicians in Liverpool to take action against the rising unemployment in the city, which has a largely Catholic population.
On Monday, Catholic Liberal MP David Alton (Liverpool Moseley Hill) will lead a debate in the House of Commons on the plight of the city where almost one in five of the workforce is unemployed.
The statement issued this week said that the bishops "had discussed in detail the implications of the closure both for the employees who will be made redundant with little hope of re-employment, and for the community as a whole, for whom this was one more blow in a series of setbacks."