Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond was today accused of "snoozing on his watch" over the announcement that drinks giant Diageo is to shed 900 jobs.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond was today accused of "snoozing on his watch" over the announcement that drinks giant Diageo is to shed 900 jobs.
It was announced yesterday that a packaging plant in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and a grain whisky distillery in Glasgow are to close.
Today, Kilmarnock MP Des Browne attacked the company and Mr Salmond who will meet with senior Diageo executives today.
Mr Browne said: "Diageo's decision has got little if anything to do with a recession.
"It is clear from the company's own press release that this is a long term restructuring plan.
"It is designed to boost their profits at the expense of their staff.
"Ten years ago, working with Brian Wilson in the Scottish Office, the then Leader of the Labour Council and the local workforce and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, we fought a similar proposal and we won.
"Then, the relationship between the political leadership of Scotland and one of its most important industries was one of trust and partnership.
"But now the First Minister has been caught snoozing on his watch.
"The First Minister only found out about this hours before it happened - even though Diageo had been talking to Scottish Enterprise for some time, I understand.
"Do Scottish Enterprise not talk to the First Minister? If he has no relationship of trust with the Scotch whisky industry, where does he stand with the rest?"
The Kilmarnock packing plant, which employs 700 and is listed for closure by the end of 2011, is in the constituency of former defence and Scottish secretary Mr Browne.
The distillery to close will be the Port Dundas grain spirit plant in Glasgow, dating back to 1810.
It falls within the Glasgow North East constituency where a by-election is looming after the resignation of former Commons Speaker Michael Martin.
Diageo - the group behind brands including Guinness, Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky - is also restructuring its brewing operation in Ireland to cut costs, but is yet to reveal the impact on jobs on its three Irish breweries.
The group's restructuring in Scotland will mark the end of nearly 200 years of distilling at Port Dundas, where 140 jobs will be lost when the distillery and its adjacent Dundashill Cooperage close, although Diageo is hoping to relocate some staff to a new cooperage in central Scotland.
Diageo said its long-term grain whisky requirements could best be met at the Cameronbridge distillery in Fife, which is being expanded and will offset some of the job losses elsewhere.
The decision to close its Kilmarnock packaging plant and consolidate operations in its other two facilities in Glasgow and Fife will have the biggest impact on jobs, with 700 posts.
Changes at its Shieldhall packaging plant in Glasgow will also lead to 30 job losses, said Diageo, and the group is relocating around 80 office-based staff from Dundas House in Glasgow to another location in central Scotland over the next two years.
Scotland is one of Diageo's largest spirit supply centres, currently employing around 4,500 people and producing nearly 50 million cases of Scotch whisky and white spirits.
The firm hopes to save an extra £40 million a year from the changes in Scotland, coming on top of £120 million a year already identified around its global operations and expected cost savings from its Irish review.
A spokesman for the First Minister said: "Frankly at a time when the people of Scotland want to see the Governments working together, it beggars belief that Des Browne would launch such an unwarranted attack as this.
"It is the UK Government that controls the economic levers and responsibilities that are essential to ensuring that Scotland moves out of the economic recession as quickly as possible."
He described Mr Browne's comments as a "cheap political shot".
And Finance Secretary John Swinney said yesterday: "The Scottish Government is asking the company to reconsider this course of action and to look at alternatives which protect employment.
"This will be a particularly worrying time for workers at Kilmarnock and Port Dundas.
"We note there will be no compulsory redundancies for 12 months - a pledge we want the company to guarantee - and welcome the creation of 400 new jobs at the company's new packaging plant in Fife."
