Anglesey: Fears RAF job losses could drive young people away

Potential job losses at RAF Valley could push young people to leave Anglesey, the shadow Welsh secretary has said.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that its Hawk T1 aircraft would retire from service in March 2022.

The Unite union said up to 70 servicing and maintenance jobs were at risk, while MP Nia Griffith warned of a "spiral effect".

The MoD has said staff would be assigned to other roles.

The aircraft, which first entered service in 1976, is also used by the Red Arrows, which is not affected by the decision and will continue to fly the planes until 2030.

Ms Griffith MP met with Unite and other politicians on Thursday to discuss the plans.

She said: "The real worry is that it's the jobs of the future that are going.

"Young people will see there aren't the opportunities they want to get the high-wage, high-skill jobs that they want and they will be leaving.

"If they leave, of course what happens is there's a spiral effect, a knock-on effect on local businesses.

"You lose the highly-paid workers, you then lose the fact that they pay money in local shops and use local services, you lose all that part of the economy as well."

Councillor Gwilym O Jones said the job losses would hurt an area of Wales that has already experienced economic challenges.

"After the local authority it is one of the main employers and to hear that there is a possibility of losing 70 jobs here, it's a tremendous blow to us here in Ynys Môn."

Mr Jones pointed to other economic losses on the island that had affected young people on the island.

"A number of people have lost jobs in the Amlwch area, REHAU and of course the Wylfa Newydd Project.

"Young people had been taken on and these young people would have been key workers in years to come but this now on top of this [Wylfa], it's a tremendous blow."

Unite previously branded the plans as a "huge blow to the workforce" and described the speed of the timetable as a "shock".

The MoD said retiring the T1 reflected "a transition to increased use of synthetic training".

A spokesman added: "No decisions have been taken on the location for future maintenance support for RAFAT Hawks and we remain committed to a long-term and significant presence at RAF Valley."