Cessation of Production and Redundancies at De La Rue Gateshead

That this House deplores De La Rue’s proposal to cease banknote production at their facility in Gateshead; regrets the Government's award of the passport printing contract to an overseas company; is concerned about putting 255 highly-skilled workers at risk of redundancy in addition to 170 posts made redundant in 2019; further notes that this is already a difficult time for many families that will be made harder with the loss of highly-skilled jobs; and supports the call from Unite the Union to ensure that the site is preserved and that the contract to print passports is returned to the UK as a matter of urgency, to protect these vital British jobs.