Nissan in Sunderland

Drew Hendry Excerpts

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. I echo the sentiment that our thoughts should be with the workers at Nissan and elsewhere who are unsettled by this news.

The Secretary of State has put a brave face on this bad news. We all know that the issue of diesel and the change to petrol is part of it, as is the global review, but the cancellation of X-Trail has his Government’s handling of Brexit at its heart. Brexit, in itself, is bad enough, but it is being bungled beyond belief by a Government who have failed to listen to business. He talks about business wanting to back a deal, but he omits to say that they all say that any deal is worse than what we already have with the EU. Professor David Bailey, from Aston University, is an expert in the car industry, and he has pointed out:

“The Japanese carmakers came to the UK to access the single market”.

He went on to say that Brexit is

“a big shock for the Japanese producers.”

Nissan’s European chairman has been clear:

“The continued uncertainty around the UK’s future relationship with the EU is not helping companies like ours to plan for the future”.

Nissan’s decision shows that international investors have no faith in this Government’s assurances about the economic impact of the Prime Minister’s rotten Brexit deal. If Brexit uncertainty is too great for one of the world’s best resourced manufacturers, what hope is there for small and medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of the economy? This Government’s continued failure can be demonstrated by the failure to top up the Tay Cities deal to support Michelin workers, so will the Secretary of State urge the Chancellor to make the spring statement a fiscal event that increases funds to support businesses impacted by Brexit? Will the Secretary of State, once and for all, rule out participation in the foolish game of failing to rule out no deal?

[Greg Clark]

First, let me remind the hon. Gentleman that a greater amount of financial investment is going into Sunderland than was anticipated in 2016; this is a long-term commitment that has been made by the firm. He should welcome that and reflect that the future jobs of those employed in Sunderland have been secured by that investment in the Qashqai. That is a welcome factor.

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that the company has expressed an urgent concern that we should resolve the question of Brexit, but he is wrong to say that the deal the Prime Minister has negotiated does not command the positive confidence of the industry. I have talked about Nissan, but let me mention the head of Ford in Europe, who said:

“It’s important that we get the agreement ratified that’s on the table at the moment”.

The chief executive of Aston Martin has said that it is “obvious” that the deal that we see

“meets the needs of all the requests we put forward as an industry and as Aston Martin.”

Toyota has said that it welcomes the announced deal, which

“would provide business with the certainty of a transition period and help avoid the significant production disruption a ‘No Deal’ outcome would have for ‘Just in Time’ supply chains in the automotive industry.”

I share the hon. Gentleman’s view that we should bring the uncertainty to an end, but the only way to do that is by backing a deal, and I commend to him the deal that has the support of every one of the employers in the automotive sector that I have quoted to him today.