Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

Debate between Blair McDougall and Rachel Taylor

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Blair McDougall]

As I said to other hon. Members, throughout the conversations that we have been having with people in the region, including the mayor and the company, the ask has been that we stand behind the wider sector and supply chain and make sure that things are available in the future. The hon. Gentleman mentioned skills; he will be aware that the changes that we have made—such as the move to shorter, more flexible apprenticeships—are very focused on the automotive industry, so we are already putting significant amounts of funding into advanced manufacturing in the hon. Gentleman’s part of the world and will continue to do so. We stand ready to work with people in the region to maintain skills and manufacturing there, whatever it takes.

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

My next-door neighbour works at JLR, and people in my constituency have worked there their whole life. They and others in the wider manufacturing supply chain will be rightly concerned about their future, and I share their concern. I welcome the package of measures put in place by Labour Mayor Richard Parker, but what more will the Minister do to support motor manufacturing in the west midlands and protect our industrial future?

[Blair McDougall]

My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point, as she always does, on behalf of her constituents who work in automotive. Many of those workers, because they are very highly skilled and because Jaguar Land Rover is such a prestigious organisation to have worked in, will find themselves in work again very quickly, but that is almost not the point. This will be like mourning for them, because they will be leaving a company with which they are deeply connected emotionally. We are investing £4 billion in the automotive industry—it is the biggest investment in the automotive sector in post-war Britain, as I said earlier—precisely to ensure that the high-quality jobs that her constituents rely on, not just in the big automotive primes but all across the supply chain, are there for her constituents for generations to come. I will continue to work with her on that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Blair McDougall and Rachel Taylor

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I got the chance to do some essential Christmas shopping on small business Saturday last week. I bought cakes from Gayton’s and a wreath from the Flower House, and I managed to get in my Christmas turkey order at Bates in Atherstone. Can the Minister tell us what extra support he will provide to small retail businesses in North Warwickshire and Bedworth and across the country?

[Blair McDougall]

I, too, enjoyed small business Saturday; I got to return to Beveridge fishmongers in Giffnock in my constituency, where I used to work. According to Small Business Britain, the boost given by small business Saturday has been the biggest in six years, so there is real room for optimism for small businesses as we go into the new year. Through the small business strategy, increasing access to finance, cutting red tape and ensuring that we tackle late payments, we will support small businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the UK.