FURNESS needs to seize the opportunity of the new green revolution to avoid being too reliant on BAE Sytems for employment, according to the MP for Barrow and Furness.

Simon Fell said many of his peers are envious of him having the shipyard in his constituency providing employment to so many constituents.

But due to the natural resources available in the Furness area, and the ‘green industrial revolution’ the Government wants to implement to help the economy recover following coronavirus, Mr Fell believes that this could be the time to seize the opportunity that may not come around again.

One of the ideas that could be included in this would be the Morecambe Bay Tidal Bridge.

The much-mooted multi-billion pound project to build a bridge across Morecambe Bay has been in the pipeline for years. It is hoped it could generate two per cent of the nation’s power through tidal power.

“My maiden speech in parliament was on this,” Mr Fell said.

“We have got this incredible mix of engineering opportunities in the area.

“Tidal energy would be a great addition to this as well.

“I want to develop these industries as well as the skills and training involved.

“There would be a knock on affect for the area as well in terms of transport investment as a result of this.

“We need to do more to get on this green revolution though like more charging points for electric cars and electric buses.

“We are so lucky to have BAE in our area but there are times when it will thrive and there are times that it could struggle.

“We need to diversify the employment opportunities to be prepared for this. I think we have so many things coming down the road here. But I don’t think we could have these opportunities again in future. I think it is a case of building a plan and getting the government to buy into it. They are keen on offshore wind as well as nuclear and sustainable energy resources. Because of our natural resources in Furness, we are in a real position to take advantage of this green agenda.”