Prescott enters outsourcing 'furore'

Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, entered the 'furore' about outsourcing with a plea to give India a chance to develop its skills and markets and that it was unfair to blame India for the loss of British jobs.

His remarks came at the Labour Friends of India at the recent Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.

In a nearby room at the same conference, three trade union leaders - Roger Lyons from Amicus-MSF, Ed Sweeney from UNIFI and Jeannie Drake from the Communication Workers Union - were taking a different position at a meeting about the loss of UK jobs to outsourcing in India. While the union bosses identified the problems they were facing, they had less solutions to the problems.

However, John Prescott, had a message for his union colleagues. Speaking at the 'Labour Friends of India' reception, he told the 250 guests: "The trade unions here must show a sense of fairness towards India vis-a-vis winning outsourcing deals from some of Britain's biggest firms. The furore is unfair and India must be given a chance to develop its skills and markets"

The Indian High Commissioner Ronen Sen told the guests that India was doing well with exports booming and the second fastest growth rate in the world.

Commenting on the growing discontent over the outsourcing, the Indian High Commissioner said: "We genuinely appreciate the sentiments of those who may lose jobs in this global economy because we have faced similar situations in India for some time."

The Chairman of Labour Friends of India, Stephen Pound, MP, also had a word of warning to those who railed against outsourcing, by explaining that, in his opinion "trying to protect the software industry is counter productive and moving with India is the best option for Britain".

He said: "The idea that we can revert back to imposing trade barriers belongs to the 19th century. In India working conditions are extremely good and leave us far behind in this country."