THE 3,000 job cuts announced by BAE Systems were greeted with widespread dismay. Indeed, have a lot of sympathy for the workers who will have to find other ways of supporting their families.
However, no-one seems to have mentioned that the industry in which BAE Systems operates depends on armed conflict and, in many cases, human rights abuses.
Were these things to cease, BAE Systems would be out of business.
Of course, this isn’t going to happen immediately. But these job losses could be easily absorbed if the Government were to implement a Green New Deal of the kind the Green Party has proposed, with nationwide investment in home insulation and renewable energy measures creating thousands of jobs which highly skilled manual workers of this kind would be very well suited to.
Such an investment would enable these workers to use their admirable skills in a way that is far more sustainable and beneficial to society as a whole than our over-rated arms export industry.
Chris Bluemel (address supplied)
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