Oral Answers to Questions

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Thursday 14th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Industry and Economic Security (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I join my hon. Friend, a great champion of Bosworth, in congratulating Caterpillar on 70 years and 1,300 employees. That is fantastic. I look forward to going along and having a go on the electric diggers.

[Judith Cummins (Bradford South) (Lab)]

T5. The loss of Wilko is devastating, in particular for the thousands of workers who will lose their livelihoods. Will the Secretary of State confirm that she will seek answers from Wilko management about why clear warnings were ignored and the business was driven into the ground, at the same time that shareholders collected hundreds of millions in dividends? Will she meet me and the GMB trade union to assure us that those basic failures will not be repeated?

[Kevin Hollinrake]

The hon. Member raises an important point. There is certainly, as part of the administration process, an obligation on the administrators to look at the circumstances that led to the demise of that company and report to the Insolvency Service. I am sure that she, like I, will be very interested in the outcome of that investigation.