Peter Mandelson _320
JLR is dropping one of the two shifts at its Liverpool factory, after 850 layoffs in the West Midlands.
Lord Mandelson said: “I’m talking to the car manufacturers. We are analysing very carefully what is going on in the sector and we will make good judgments in good time if it is appropriate for the Government to take any action, or if it is possible for us to do so. I have had discussions with the owners and management of JLR, in particular, because they argue they are under particular strain. But they have owners who are well-resourced, who have the first responsibility for sustaining the companies.”
He added the time for a decision on intervention had not yet been reached.
In the Commons, Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller joined other Labour MPs in warning of “huge damage to the industry” if the crisis was ignored.
Later, he insisted: “The door is certainly not closed to further financial support.”
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