ANGLICAN Archdeacon of Liverpool, the Venerable Ricky Panter, has said “we all have a moral duty to act” in saving the jobs of Jaguar Land Rover workers and their suppliers.

In a personal letter, the Archdeacon supports the Daily Post’s campaign for the Government to give a loan or loan guarantee to help JLR ride the recession.

He insists it is everyone’s duty to try and lessen the impact and the human cost on communities affected by the current downturn.

The support from Archdeacon Panter comes after this week’s announcement by JLR boss David Smith of 300 management job cuts across the group and the loss of 150 salaried agency staff, driven by the need to make the business economically viable in time for any upturn in its markets when consumer confidence returns.

JLR employs 2,200 in Merseyside at its Halewood base, plus 13,000 in the Midlands.

Our “Support JLR” campaign is being run together with sister paper the Liverpool Echo and stablemates the Birmingham Post and Mail and Coventry Telegraph.

In his letter, Archdeacon Panter says: “The Church of England supports any reasonable moves that can help provide a degree of certainty for those who work for Jaguar Land Rover and their suppliers.

“We welcome this campaign and are encouraged by the positive response that it has had with government figures, such as Lord Mandelson.

“As a church we are deeply concerned about the impact that the credit crisis has on important local employers such as JLR.

“We have seen the devastating effect that losing a vital part of the economy can have on families and communities. A strong society needs good employment opportunities and many people have worked very hard at Halewood to achieve this.