A war of words has broken out over the textile industry between a union leader and a chain store boss.

Bradford-based union chief Peter Booth has attacked Marks & Spencer boss Peter Salsbury for suggesting that the textile industry was dead.

Mr Booth, who is national secretary of the Transport & General Workers' Union's textile group, said today he was outraged by the suggestion of the chain store's managing director which, he said, would also outrage the 10,600 textile workers in Bradford.

And the issue is expected to be central to this week's Trades Union Congress in Blackpool.

Mr Salsbury's comments are in a letter to Mr Booth following his remarks in a national newspaper attacking Marks & Spencer for failing to support the British textile industry.

Mr Salsbury says: "One of the problems faced by the British garment industry is that there is no textile industry left in the UK or, for that matter, much of Western Europe.

"Increasingly raw materials needed to produce goods have to be purchased worldwide - encouraging the development of garment factories nearby."

Mr Booth said Mr Salsbury's statement would come as a surprise to the textile workers in Bradford and the 180,000 in total in the UK.

In his reply to Mr Salsbury, he says: "That you should have a perception that the industry no longer exists perhaps goes some way to explain why Marks & Spencer seem to have a jaundiced view towards British textiles and increasingly purchasing goods from other high-cost suppliers such as Italy."

The row between the two men has been going on for some time and involves an exchange of letters.

The problem became worse last week when M&S delivered a body blow to the textile industry by suggesting to major clothing manufacturers that they move their factories to places where labour was cheaper, such as Morocco and Sri Lanka, to reduce the cost of making up cloth.

Mr Booth says in his reply: "This would seem to confirm the fears that we have held for some time on the sourcing policies of M&S and does nothing to restore the confidence that is needed in many parts of the UK textile industry."

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