IT took a drunken brawl in a House of Commons bar to spark a chain of events which today threaten the very existence of the sprawling petrochemicals complex at Grangemouth.

Eric Joyce was the unwitting catalyst after he became the dishonourable member of Parliament for Falkirk when he grappled with two police officers in an incident in the sports and social bar for MPs and their guests.

It led to the former Army major resigning from Labour in March last year before being frog marched out of the party after admitting common assault. But Joyce didn't resign his Falkirk seat.

And as a result of his refusal to ignore repeated calls to go the Labour Party got on with the business of chosing a successor.

At the turn of the year Britain's biggest trade union Unite backed Karie Murphy as the Labour candidate for Falkirk in place of Eric Joyce.

In June, however, Unite's general secretary Len McLuskey was forced to deny allegations that the union had fixed the outcome of the selection process by mobilising hundreds of members to ensure the Falkirk West Constituency Labour Party backed Murphy.

In July, Labour leader Ed Miliband introduces controversial new rules governing the way union members give financial support to the party at a time when Labour chiefs launched an internal probe into Unite's involvement into the alleged Murphy fix. The police also launched an inquiry only to clear Unite of any wrongdoing.

Later that month the bitter row spread to Grangemouth where management suspended plant worker and Unite representative Stephen Deans.

He chaired the Falkirk West Constituency Labour Party which was alleged to have actively recruited more than 100 new members to help Murphy win the race to become the next Labour candidate at the new general election.

Len McLuskey and his senior Unite officials responded angrily by threatening to shut down Grangemouth unless the suspension of Stephen Deans was lifted by plant owners Ineos.

It triggered a stalemate.

The Swiss-based company claimsed the site was a major loss maker and it's future rested on the workforce accepting new terms and conditions and an alternative pension scheme.

For weeks now the bitter row has been building momentum.

Ineos closed the plant. But most of the 800 workers still defied management by rejecting the company's "survival plan."

Yesterday chairman Calum MacLean announced the plant would close and liquidators will be appointed within days.

Workers have been left stunned.

Despite constant speculation that First Minister Alex Salmond will intervene and nationalise the complex one worker fought back tears and said: "That's it. Folk will be lucky if they have a house at Christmas."

gordon.thomson@eveningtimes.co.uk