Tata Group Gigafactory Investment

Debate between Nusrat Ghani and Gavin Newlands

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Ms Ghani]

I have learned that it is not a good use of one’s time to focus on what the Opposition are offering, because they U-turn so quickly; by the time one has closed the book they have just published, they have changed their mind. Let us not fret about that.

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Investment in the automotive sector is on a fantastic trajectory, with not just this commitment but those from Stellantis, Ford, Envision and Nissan. That is because we have a really stellar agenda on how we create and adopt new technology to ensure that advanced manufacturing in the UK competes internationally, as we did with steel, including by helping with high energy costs, which are now coming down. We work hand in glove with the industry. We do not sit around in a Westminster bubble, creating new budgets that are completely uncosted and endorsed by no one in the sector. Yesterday’s and today’s news is fantastic for the automotive sector.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

I too welcome the announcement—I genuinely do—but we are miles behind European competitors. Some of that is Brexit-related, but mainly it is due to the lack of an industrial strategy, which is even more important in the net zero-related sectors. This Government are miles behind right across the EV sector; other countries are ramping up incentives, but this Government are slashing them. As a result, sales are plateauing. The charging network outside London is a postcode lottery, with some places a charging desert. Scotland had a strategy from day one. That is why we have twice as many rapid chargers per head than even London. When will the Government treat this issue with appropriate urgency?

[Ms Ghani]

I am afraid the hon. Gentleman is just wrong. First, car sales are up, car manufacturing is up, and car exports even into Europe are up. I am not sure what his view is. He welcomes the £4 billion investment to create the largest gigafactory in Europe, but just cannot bring himself to dwell on the good news it brings to so many of his businesses that will, no doubt, be involved in the supply chain helping us to deliver the cars that will now have UK-made batteries.

UK Car Industry

Debate between Nusrat Ghani and Gavin Newlands

Wednesday 17th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

The Minister is sticking her fingers in her ears and burying her head in the sand on this question. The Government were told time and time again about the rules of origin issues, and the car industry seems to be another casualty of the Government’s damaging Brexit. Increasing the uptake of low-emission vehicles is vital to meeting our net zero goals, but the UK’s disastrous trade deals are making the domestic manufacture of those vehicles impossible.

Stellantis has warned:

“If the cost of EV Manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable operations will close.”

Has the Minister made an estimate of how many job losses it would lead to if the world’s fourth-largest carmaker closed its UK factories as a result of Brexit? Andy Palmer, a former chief operating officer, said that we are “running out of time” to get battery manufacturing in the UK, and that a failure to address the issues caused by Brexit will lead to the loss of 800,000 jobs in the UK. Car manufacturing has fallen sharply since the UK chose to leave the EU, from more than 1.5 million in 2016 to just 775,000. Does the Minister accept that the only way for Scotland to stop the decline of our industries is to gain independence and rejoin the world’s largest single market?

[Ms Ghani]

I would not expect anything less than a rerun of the conversation on Brexit. Fundamentally, the hon. Member does not like Brexit, does not like any trade deal, and does not even like the most integrated single market between England and Scotland, so I know that he has nothing appropriate to say.

Let us talk about the situation as it is: confidence in the UK automotive sector, and in the whole supply chain, has meant that Stellantis has invested more than £100 million in the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port. That will see the plant transition to become the first mass-market all-electric plant in the UK, producing electric vans from 2023. That shows the confidence that that particular firm has in the UK.

We know that the production of electric units will go up, whether for private or commercial use, and we are doing everything we can to provide support on some of the more challenging issues in car manufacturing, such as access to energy and the cost of energy, which we have been working on as well. It is internationally challenging—I accept that—but the UK continues to be incredibly attractive for car manufacturing.