WIREDGOV

Responding to news that the consultation over planned cuts to coastguards has been extended by six weeks, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said:

"What has become very clear in recent weeks is that the case for closing or cutting back all but two of our coastguard stations has not been made and people rightly fear that the plans would put lives at risk and hit coastal economies very hard.

"Like with the utterly misguided plan to sell off our forests, ministers have been blinded by their ideological commitment to cuts, and have completely misjudged the mood of the public and the importance and value of local expertise.

"This partial climbdown will be welcome if the government uses the time to recognise the anger these proposals have stoked and to listen to what we have been saying."

View a parliamentary motion opposing the cuts, signed by 95 MPs including senior Lib Dems

Read our statement following the transport select committee's decision to hold a new inquiry