A YOUTH council representative has warned a move by Airbus to quit the UK would have a devastating impact on the younger generation.

Shaun Hingston, Saltney representative on the Flintshire Youth Council, said if Airbus were to leave, many young students would miss out on job opportunities.

He said while young people were not old enough to vote - it is their futures being affected and called for their voices to be heard.

The 15-year-old added: “I’m very concerned, as a representative of young people and as a young person, of what we are currently seeing.

“The moving or closure of Airbus in the UK would result in huge job losses, that would start a negative multiplier effect, businesses in the local area would relocate or close.

“By moving base, it would not allow young people to go on work experience or complete apprentice programmes and hundreds of young people across schools want to do this.

“Airbus is their dream job and they will not have this opportunity.”

The aerospace firm, which employs 6,500 people at its Broughton site, made the announcement on Friday warning that it could pull out of the UK if there is a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.

The business, which employs 14,000 people at 25 sites across the country, said it would reconsider its investments in the UK.

Shaun said many young people, who are not yet old enough to vote, are concerned about this and something needs to be done.

He added: “It’s shocking to hear this news, we need a Brexit deal that will give businesses, especially multi-national companies, an incentive to stay in the UK and hire in the UK.

“People seem to be more worried about people losing their current jobs, but it’s going to affect the whole future of young people.

“For some people, it’s their dream job because it’s so close, and they offer loads of opportunities and development and so many young people come to me upset and worried about what it means if it moved.

“People who perhaps didn’t know what Brexit was before, they now realise what could happen and the impact it could have. These young people were too young to vote but they are being affected.”

Shaun became a youth councillor when the scheme started about six months ago because he wanted to give a voice to the younger generation.

Although he represents Saltney, the teenager aims to represent the whole of Flintshire because he says young people need to be heard more.

He said: “I’ve always been interested in politics and I realised people are genuinely worried about the government and politics and I want to get involved with everything that effects every-day lives.

“You take one person out of a job and it affects the whole family and their future, one decision affects their whole life.”