Whitehall plea on biscuit firm jobs

Jun 6 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A TOP-LEVEL Whitehall meeting took place yesterday over the decision to close a Wirral biscuit factory, with the loss of 821 jobs.

Wallasey Labour MP Angela Eagle met the Employment Minister Jim Murphy to discuss the closure of the Burton’s Foods plant in Moreton. Also there were union leaders from the T&G section of Unite.

Ms Eagle said it had been a constructive meeting and she was pleased that the Government had plans in place to help workers secure new jobs if large-scale redundancies went ahead.

However, she added that she was continuing her “twin-track” approach to persuade the company to make savings without closing the plant.

A spokesman for the union said: “We are determined to do all we can to reverse the closure decision and as part of this we are putting forward an alternative business proposal which is designed to keep production going at the Moreton plant.

“We believe the plant is a viable one and we want to make sure it stays that way.”