THE planned closure of the GKN Birmingham car component plant is a “green economy betrayal,” Unite said today, as 500 manufacturing workers face redundancy. 

Coinciding with the Cop26 climate summit, the union slammed the move as a “betrayal of a highly skilled workforce” and a failure to support British manufacturing during the green transition. 

The workers, who will lose their jobs next year, now have little option but to accept a redundancy scheme offered by Melrose, the venture capitalist company which acquired GKN in 2018. 

Bosses refused to reconsider the union’s plan to save the plant in Erdington, which produces drivelines for firms including Jaguar Land Rover, despite ministers’ requests for it to do so.

The site looked set to produce electric car propulsion units, but the work will now be moved to Poland, a country heavily dependent on coal power, Unite warned.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner slammed the “shameful” decision and called for Tory ministers to lead from the front on climate change.

“That means no more sound bites but an industrial plan and genuine support for UK-based manufacturing,” he stressed. 

Melrose was contacted for comment.