Going for Growth aerospace strategy

That this House notes the importance to the UK economy of the aerospace sector, which has an annual turnover of £33.9 billion and is the world’s second-largest aerospace industry, employing more than 14,000 people directly in high-skilled, well-paid jobs and four times that number in the supply chain; further notes that the covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on the aerospace and shipbuilding industries, with an estimated 20,000 jobs and thousands of apprenticeships lost since the start of the crisis; welcomes the launch of Unite the union’s Going For Growth – Beyond 2022 strategy, which outlines key steps for the Government to take in the immediate, medium and longer term to secure and deliver a greener, sustainable and more self-sufficient future for the aerospace sector as it recovers from the pandemic; supports the Going for Growth recommendations, including demands for public investment in company research and development to be linked to the retention and creation of valuable jobs in manufacturing and its supply chain, for UK workers to benefit from similar employment rights to EU workers to avoid a skills drain, and for a return to quality apprenticeships with decent pay and conditions, contracts from day one and guarantees of future employment; and calls on the Government to endorse Going For Growth and to incorporate its recommendations into future aerospace policies.