KIRKCUDBRIGHT JOB LOSSES WORRYING

7.26.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 13th May 2009

Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland, today spoke with disappointment on the announcement from Milk Link that it plans to shut its Kirkcudbright dairy resulting in the loss of 121 jobs.

Jim Hume said:

"These job losses for the area are very worrying and everything must be done to ensure that employees are given all the support possible to find alternative employment and re-training.

"The scale of the job losses is however huge and I fear that it will take a long time for the Kirkcudbright and Stewartry areas to recover.

The MSP continued:

"In the longer term, this is the latest in a series of worrying announcements for Scotland's dairy industry over recent weeks.

"The Scottish Government has finally set a date for its long-promised dairy summit. It is now imperative that Scottish Ministers set a bold agenda for this summit and commit to taking radical action on the back of it."

ENDS