MPs to question Rolls-Royce boss

Feb 21 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

ROLLS-ROYCe boss Sir John Rose will face a Parliamentary grilling today by MPs over his decision to axe a Bootle factory.

Sir John, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, has been asked to give evidence on the future of high value-added manufacturing in the UK in front of the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee.

But MPs will use the opportunity to quiz Sir John on why the company has decided to pull the plug on production at the Bootle plant, costing more than 200 highly-skilled jobs.

Rolls-Royce workers from the threatened Bootle plant and from other Rolls-Royce sites across the UK will also attend the inquiry at Portcullis House, London.

A committee spokesman admitted: “Witnesses often look for ways to avoid questions, but the committee is usually quite good at seeing through that.”