Lord Campbell of Pittenweem
Main Page: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Viscount Younger of Leckie
I thank the noble Lord for his input. I understand his point of view, but we do not see that as being the way forward. I should say again that the interim statement we heard is bitterly disappointing but it is only the first step. We will continue to strongly defend UK interests in support of Bombardier at the very highest level, because, as the noble Lord has said, the adverse outcome risks jobs and livelihoods among the 4,000 or so skilled workers in Belfast. I can only say that we will continue urgently to work hard at resolving this important matter.
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)
My Lords, I wholeheartedly support the attitude of the Government, as I think does every noble Lord who has contributed to this short debate, but will the Government take into account three important elements? First, Boeing enjoys very considerable influence both on Capitol Hill and in the White House. Secondly, traditionally, consecutive United States Governments have been assiduous in their defence of the American aerospace industry. Thirdly, even if the United States Government were well disposed to a trade deal, might the action of Boeing not be illustrative of the attitude of American industry towards such a deal, if Brexit ever takes place?
Viscount Younger of Leckie
On the noble Lord’s third point, I do not agree with what he said to the extent that, as I said earlier, I see this as being a challenging issue between the US, Canadian and UK Governments that is specific to the Boeing/Bombardier matter. It is right to ring-fence that and to look at it and work on it as assiduously as we are. We will continue to do that. I would not want to comment on the influence of Boeing on Capitol Hill. I suspect that it is quite strong over there; equally, we know that and we will continue to work very hard on contacting US congressmen to work through and convince them to convince Boeing to withdraw its petition.