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12,832 spoken contributions under 12 words (interjections such as “Will the hon. Member give way?”) are hidden. Show them

1. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Connor Naismith

   Engagements

   Q3. It is clear to me and many across this House that despite the hard work and dedication of all postal workers, Royal Mail’s management is failing in its obligation to provide a basic and reliable postal service. The people of Crewe and Nantwich are paying the price through missed appointments, late fees and, in some cases, even county court judgments. I have full confidence in this Prime Minister to deliver for our country. Will he join me in calling on Royal Mail’s management to do the same, including by working with the Communication Workers Union and through the implementation of the recommendations of the Select Committee report published earlier this year?

   Hansard source
2. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Connor Naismith

   Education and Skills Reform

   The Secretary of State is already well aware of the excellent work being undertaken by providers, such as Crewe Engineering and Design UTC and Cheshire College South and West, in equipping young people with the technical skills that local employers need. But what steps is she taking to build on successful examples of colleges and UTCs with proven industry partnerships, and will she visit Crewe and Nantwich to see that work in action?

   Hansard source
3. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Connor Naismith

   Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

   The Minister will appreciate the concern that announcements of redundancies at major manufacturers such as JLR will create for employees, families and businesses across not just those manufacturers but the wider supply chain and industry. In my constituency, Bentley Motors has invested hundreds of millions of pounds over the past decade, but what more can the Government do to support the UK automotive sector? Will the Minister join me in welcoming the forthcoming launch of Bentley’s first electric vehicle, the Torcal, on 23 September?

   Hansard source
4. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Clive Efford

   Education and Skills Reform

   Thank you for allowing me to take part in this statement, Madam Deputy Speaker, given that I was not here at the beginning—I was carrying out my duties elsewhere in the House. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. What is she likely to do in my part of south-east London for technical and vocational places? I remind her that there is a former education college site in my constituency that is in the ownership of the Education Department, which could be readymade for creating such places. Will she meet me to discuss the future of that site?

   Hansard source
5. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

   Removing Children from Poverty

   5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help remove children from poverty.

   Hansard source
6. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

   Removing Children from Poverty

   Across my constituency, 18% of children live in poverty, which rises to 30% in areas such as Mark Hall and Netteswell. Around 12% of children in Harlow will benefit from Labour’s lifting of the two-child cap, which parents and I welcome. However, child poverty remains deeply uneven across Harlow and the UK, and too often, children’s chances in life are shaped by where they grow up. What further steps is the Minister taking to tackle those regional and local disparities and to ensure that children growing up in our most deprived communities benefit from the Government’s drive to reduce poverty?

   Hansard source
7. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

   Summer Health and Resilience

   I put on record my thanks to NHS and care staff across Harlow for their work during a very difficult summer, particularly those at the Princess Alexandra hospital. The Secretary of State will know from talking to my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) how much I lobby on behalf of the Princess Alexandra. I am delighted that it is in wave 2 of the new hospital programme, but may I emphasise the hospital’s ageing estate and the need for emergency funding moving forward, before we complete the new hospital project?

   Hansard source
8. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

   Education and Skills Reform

   When you have been working 12-hour days, and you come home, turn on the television and are told by the former Education Secretary that you are lazy, you are letting down the children you teach and you are not aspirational enough, it is pretty easy to become quite angry and despondent very quickly, so I am glad that the new Education Secretary has a very different approach. I am absolutely delighted that she is talking about the need for a broader curriculum, which will benefit young people in my constituency of Harlow. On Harlow, does the Education Secretary agree with the former MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, who said that a “false hierarchy” undermines vocational and technical skills compared with academic education? It is a shame the current Tories do not seem to think the same.

   Hansard source
9. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

   Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [Lords]

   I am sorry that my voice still has not come back, but I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising these issues. As he will know, Stansted airport is right next to my constituency of Harlow, so this has had an impact on many people in the constituency, not just those who are travelling. Does he agree that it has also had an impact on those working in the airport, because of the huge disruption that it has caused?

   Hansard source
10. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

    Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [Lords]

    The idea of drop-off fines is to try to convince people to travel to airports via other means. My airport, Stansted, is very accessible by train and new bus routes have been put on, but in the example given by my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack)—we have discussed this before—that option is not available. It seems unfair, if there are not good transport links to an airport, that such charges exist. As I say, in my case it is not such an issue, but in my hon. Friend’s case I can see why it is a problem.

    Hansard source
11. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Vince

    Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [Lords]

    The Minister is making an excellent speech—the take-off was fantastic and I am looking forward to seeing the landing. I want to ask him about the recent fire at an electricity substation at Heathrow airport—the point raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). I am very aware that we are seeing increasingly extreme weather—we had the heat over the summer and I suspect we will have extreme cold during the winter—so has the Minister considered the challenges that our aviation sector will face and what does he think the Government can do to mitigate those issues?

    Hansard source
12. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Bloore

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I thank the Minister for his statement. I represent Redditch, which has a proud automotive history and is home to thousands of the 100,000-plus jobs that are part of the supply chain that supports JLR, and we are all deeply concerned about the statement from JLR. This Government did everything they could with the £1.5 billion loan—not bail-out—to support JLR, so will the Minister assure me that, if worse is to come, the Government will not falter in any way in giving support to protect these jobs? If the jobs are lost further down the road, they will never come back, as other areas in Birmingham can attest. Will the Minister assure me that this Labour Government will make sure that, whatever the headwinds facing JLR and the pressures from China, we will not lose this crucial industry in our country?

    Hansard source
13. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Cat Eccles

    Draft Code of Practice on the Right of Trade Unions to Access Workplaces; Draft Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) Regulations 2026

    May I also declare my membership of the RMT parliamentary group and that I am a proud trade unionist? I welcome these regulations and the Government’s efforts to strengthen trade union access rights, but we have a concern specifically about how that will be applied to seafarers. As we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell), as drafted, these regulations simply replicate the existing regulations, meaning that enhanced access rights will apply only to crews on UK-flagged vessels. In practice, that would exclude seafarers who are working from UK ports every single day, including those employed on services operated by P&O Ferries, Irish Ferries and other vessels that are registered overseas. During the passage of the Employment Rights Act 2025, Ministers recognised the need to consider how employment protections should apply to seafarers with strong connections to Great Britain, and committed to continue discussions with the maritime unions on this issue. Baroness Jones, in the other place, specifically undertook to explore how the objectives behind Lord Hendy’s amendment could be secured. Could the Minister therefore please confirm that the Government will work with the RMT and other maritime unions on a review of how these access rights and wider employment protections can be extended to seafarers working on vessels with a sufficient link to Great Britain, regardless of the flag they sail under?

    Hansard source
14. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Cat Eccles

    Engagements

    Q14. I thank the Prime Minister for visiting my constituency during the recent wildfires in Stourbridge, and for meeting affected residents, emergency workers, volunteers and council staff. Will he join me in thanking the brave firefighters for giving their all in the most challenging conditions? On the hottest day of the year, the fire spread over 600 acres, destroying 19 homes and damaging many more. With extreme heat becoming the norm in a changing climate, what are the Government doing to ensure that our fire services are properly resourced for future wildfires?

    Hansard source
15. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Smart Glasses

    Covert filming using smart glasses can raise serious privacy concerns, and it is important that we spread awareness that criminal offences such as voyeurism already cover their most harmful uses. Platforms that host images or videos captured by smart glasses may also have duties to remove them under online safety or data protection legislation, and they should take those responsibilities extremely seriously.

    Hansard source
16. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Smart Glasses

    My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of the potential benefits in this area, as well as the risks and potential misuse that we sadly have seen. I would be more than happy to ensure that she has a meeting with the Minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to discuss this further, but I would of course be happy to discuss it with her myself as well.

    Hansard source
17. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Smart Glasses

    I agree with the hon. Lady, and she will know that we have already taken action in this area to ensure that the law is strong and firm, but of course, there is always the question of enforcement running alongside it. As technology adapts and changes rapidly, it is of course the responsibility of this Government to ensure that the law keeps pace with that change and that women are protected from the potential misuse of technology, which can be an amazing force for good, but in the wrong hands can cause serious harm.

    Hansard source
18. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Social Cohesion

    This Government will ensure that we protect and promote our values and build more confident, cohesive and resilient communities. I am working with colleagues across Government to deliver our initial plan, “Protecting What Matters” to uphold the UK’s social fabric and to give communities the tools they need to shape their own future. This Government will always seek to bring people together, not to divide our communities.

    Hansard source
19. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Social Cohesion

    I welcome the growing number of people who are recognising that Reform simply does not have the answers to the challenges facing our country and are inspired by this Labour Government’s message of hope and optimism. There can be no place for violence or intimidation of women, whether on the Reform conference floor or anywhere else. I say to the House that this is not a laughing matter, and those in Reform who have sought in recent days to make light of such serious scenes should reflect very seriously on why they think it is appropriate, at one level, to say that violence against women is unacceptable—I agree—but then to allow it to take place at their own conference.

    Hansard source
20. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Social Cohesion

    The hon. Lady is right: we must tackle prejudice, racism and intolerance in all its forms. I know that many of our Muslim communities have experienced unacceptable hatred and intimidation simply because they wish to go about their lives practising their religion and belief, as is at the cornerstone of everything that we as a nation should believe—the ability to worship, to practice your religion and to express those views peacefully. Whatever form that racism takes, we will challenge it. It is why we as a Government have been very clear that tackling anti-Muslim hostility is essential, alongside tackling the appalling antisemitism we have also seen, and ensuring that all our communities are vibrant, cohesive places in keeping with the best of our traditions.

    Hansard source
21. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Removing Children from Poverty

    I continue to work with Cabinet colleagues to drive forward ambitious actions to tackle child poverty. I am proud that the decisions that this Labour Government have taken will see over half a million children lifted out of poverty—the biggest reduction in any Parliament. We know, however, that our work is not done, and we will continue to drive action to cut the cost of living and raise families’ incomes.

    Hansard source
22. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Removing Children from Poverty

    I know my hon. Friend will always stand up for children and families across Harlow. He is right to say that we must go further to bear down on many of the drivers of child poverty, such as housing costs and parental employment, that require long-term structural change across society and Government. I am proud that, alongside removing the two-child limit, we have delivered a huge expansion in free school meals and new breakfast clubs opening from this term.

    Hansard source
23. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Removing Children from Poverty

    Access to childcare right across our communities is absolutely essential. That is why this Labour Government in England have massively expanded access to childcare. While recognising the differences that exist in Northern Ireland, I am sure that Ministers would be happy to discuss further any ideas that the hon. Gentleman has.

    Hansard source
24. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    I am proud to be standing here as the first ever stand-alone Cabinet Minister for Women and Equalities. The heart of this Government’s ambition is to bring hope back to communities. It is the promise that whatever someone’s background, and wherever they are from, ours is a country where they will be able to get on, follow their dreams and succeed in life. Therefore, I am announcing today a new class unit in Government to deliver on that promise. We have been squeamish about class for too long, yet we know that it is a deep barrier to opportunity. The work of the Social Mobility Commission will be brought into the heart of Government, as we get Britain believing once again.

    Hansard source
25. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    As my hon. Friend the Minister set out earlier, this Government published our draft Conversion Practices Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in June, and we will shortly confirm the members of the Joint Committee. It is an incredibly important piece of legislation and a safeguard for LGBT people. I look forward to working with all Members of this House on this important legislation to ensure that a ban is effective in targeting these abusive and harmful practices that have no place in modern Britain.

    Hansard source
26. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    I welcome the hon. Lady to her place, and wish her predecessor, the right hon. Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), all the very best—as I am sure we all do—as she heads off to welcome her new baby into the world. On this important issue, it is essential that healthcare available to children and young people is safe, evidence-based and clinically appropriate, which is why Dr Hilary Cass has looked at the issue seriously and in detail. She concluded that not enough was known about the safety and efficacy of puberty-suppressing hormones; that is why a trial is taking place, and it is why we accepted her recommendations. We will always put the safety and wellbeing of children first, in line with her recommendations.

    Hansard source
27. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    My hon. Friend will know that the Government are neutral on the matter of assisted dying and the passage of the Bill. We have therefore not developed a detailed implementation plan; if the Bill were to pass, we would engage with all relevant people and partners to ensure safe and effective implementation. My hon. Friend has referenced the equality impact assessment. Members are able to read that for themselves, and I am sure my hon. Friend will seek to make the points she has made today again as we discuss these matters further on Friday.

    Hansard source
28. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    There are potential benefits that come from the use of this kind of technology, but we know that there are also significant risks. That is why we will continue to keep the law in this area under review to make sure it is effective and fit for use. Alongside that, tech companies also have a responsibility to make sure they are taking down inappropriate material and that prosecutions follow in cases such as those of voyeurism, for which we are clear that glasses should not be used.

    Hansard source
29. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bridget Phillipson

    Topical Questions

    My hon. Friend raises an extremely important point ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day. One life lost to suicide is one life too many, and all of us across this House have a responsibility to make sure people know that there is always support available, there is always someone to talk to, and there is always help there. My hon. Friend has raised the issue of neurodiversity and autism, and I would be happy to discuss that further with her as we bring forward an updated suicide prevention plan.

    Hansard source
30. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the Government’s support for Jaguar Land Rover and our wider automotive sector. I offer my apologies on behalf of the Secretary of State, who is on his way to France to talk to our trading partners there. As the House will be aware, Jaguar Land Rover recently announced approximately 4,000 redundancies as part of a £1.7 billion cost saving effort, and the company now intends to consult on the job losses that are planned over the next two years. Although Jaguar Land Rover has stated that these losses will not impact production staff, the news will undoubtedly come as a terrible shock to all of the company’s employees. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have been in regular contact with the company and the relevant unions since the Government became aware. We have made it clear that we want to see the company reducing the impact on workers through the consultation period and that all employees deserve maximum clarity on the extent and focus of its plans for non-production workers, which the Business Secretary and I encouraged the company to do earlier today in a meeting with the company and the Unite general secretary. We recognise, too, the impact that those redundancies will have on local skills. There is a deep advanced manufacturing skills base in the west midlands, and this Government are working together with employers and the combined authority to retain that skills base within the regional economy, including by backing Mayor Richard Parker’s £500,000 support package for JLR workers taking voluntary redundancy. The Department for Work and Pensions also stands ready to support anyone affected through its rapid response service, which provides support and advice to employers and employees facing redundancy, including help with finding new work and training. Hon. Members will know that, over recent years, Jaguar Land Rover has been forced to confront a series of challenges, many of which have been shared by vehicle producers all over the world, which I will say more about shortly. One of the unique challenges the company faced last year, however, was a significant cyber-attack that temporarily halted production for several weeks. However, with help and support from this Government, including a £1.5 billion loan guarantee, it resumed operations and reopened assembly lines. Make no mistake: when British industry is attacked, we will step in to defend it, and defend it strongly, in our national interest. In this case, however, Jaguar Land Rover has cited global market conditions as one of the principal reasons for job reductions. Indeed, similar announcements from manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW underscore the challenging global headwinds that nearly all automotive manufacturers are facing right now: tariffs, high energy costs, the transition to electric vehicles, and stiff competition from overseas producers. We recognise those challenges, and are using our modern industrial strategy to help our car industry to rise to them. Through our DRIVE35 programme—driving research and investment in vehicle electrification—we are ploughing more than £4 billion into our automotive sector to support the electrification of vehicle plants alongside batteries, electric motors, hydrogen fuel cells and power electronics. It is the biggest investment in our car industry of the post-war era. Jaguar Land Rover has benefited from that funding, with £40 million of public and private investment going into advanced software-defined vehicles, supply chain resilience and lightweighting. Alongside that funding for innovation and next-generation technologies, hon. Members will know that the Government have made a considerable grant investment into Agratas’s gigafactory in Somerset, which is strengthening not only the UK’s battery production capability but the automotive industry and companies like Jaguar Land Rover, which will benefit from a secure domestic supply. When it comes to energy costs, our British industrial competitiveness scheme will save more than 10,000 manufacturers up to 25% of their electricity bills. This will almost certainly include some of the biggest companies in the automotive sector, including Jaguar Land Rover. The successful applicants for that scheme will be announced soon. On global market conditions and tariffs, this Government have acted decisively to secure trade agreements that support our nation’s car manufacturers. Our economic prosperity deal, for example, includes a preferential rate of 10% on the first 100,000 UK-made cars exported to the USA each year. The US is obviously a major export market for Jaguar Land Rover—the biggest, in fact—as it is for so many other high-value manufacturers in the UK, which is why we worked so hard to secure that deal. We remain the only country in the world subject to a 10% tariff for automotive exports, with other nations facing a much higher rate. We have placed just as much importance on vehicle exports in the other trade deals we have negotiated since taking office, including the landmark agreement we secured with India—an agreement that reduces tariffs on British-made vehicles from roughly 110% to 10%. This is a significant win for Jaguar Land Rover and other manufacturers, as India is already a huge market, with consumers set to grow by millions in the coming decades as the country’s economy fast expands. I should also touch on the zero emission vehicle mandate, which provides a clear pathway to phase out new petrol and diesel cars and vans. We always said we would keep it under review. We always said that we needed a pragmatic and balanced approach. That is the right thing to do, because discouraging the production of electric vehicles does not make good business sense for anyone. The fact is that consumers want them, with recent stats showing that for the first time in the UK, electric vehicles have outsold petrol cars over a 12-month window. Europe reached a similar milestone recently. Electric is the future. As part of our ambition to reindustrialise our country, we absolutely want those electrical vehicles to be designed and built in Britain. A mandate to steer the industry into that electric future is needed, but, equally, if we accept that zero emissions is the destination, we have to partner with industry to get there. I know that Jaguar Land Rover is of that view too. We are consulting with the company and other manufacturers to ensure that the ZEV mandate works for our automotive industry—that it strikes the right balance, with targets that are ambitious yet realistic. The consultation on the ZEV mandate review closes on 23 October. Jaguar Land Rover remains our largest car manufacturer. It is a linchpin of the UK automotive sector—a company with a long and proud history. Over many decades, it has become synonymous with the best of British design and engineering. That is true for past models such as the E-Type, the XJS, the F-Type, and it is true for the firm’s modern line-up, including the Land Rover Defender and the Discovery. These vehicles endure. Years after production ended, I note that the Jaguar I-PACE is still a vehicle of choice for companies operating driverless cars in the US and those testing them here in the UK. With last week’s launch of the new fully electric Range Rover, I am confident that Jaguar Land Rover will get past this difficult period. It will emerge from it stronger and more competitive, holding its own in the global car market against the best of them from Germany, the United States and China. For our part, we will use our industrial strategy and DRIVE35 to support JLR and the British automotive sector in this journey. In doing so, we will guarantee Britain’s status as a proud, successful car-making nation for many years to come. I commend this statement to the House.

    Hansard source
31. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    This is a day to talk about the workers, who are deeply worried and are being communicated to by Jaguar Land Rover about the future of their employment, so I do not wish to be too political in my response. I will say, however, that I understand that it is the job of the Opposition to take fire at the Government, but we have to be careful in this House to make sure that industry is not collateral damage. The hon. Lady talks about the supply chain. JLR has been very clear, publicly and in private to us and to the unions, that the production staff are not going to be impacted. This is not Jaguar Land Rover retreating from investment, lowering its ambitions and withdrawing from markets. The organisation is as ambitious as it has been, and it has as good a product—a world-beating product—as it ever had. The hon. Lady asks what we are doing to tackle the headwinds that Jaguar Land Rover has cited when talking about this decision. There is a little bit of a habit developing in this House of the Conservatives asking why we are not fixing the damage that they did quickly enough. The British industrial competitiveness scheme that is coming in never existed under the previous Government. It will save an enormous amount for automotive manufacturers and their supply chain. The hon. Lady rightly mentioned trade deals and recognised our trade deal with the United States, which no other country enjoys. We can all understand why she did not mention the relationship with Europe and the impact of trade deals that we inherited there, which Ministers across the Government are working incredibly hard to deal with at the moment—for example, with “Made in Europe” and rules of origin. Finally, we inherited the ZEV mandate from the hon. Lady’s party—[Interruption.] The right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden) says from a sedentary position, “Well, change it.” We did change it. We changed it last year, in part to help plug-in hybrids, which was of enormous importance to Jaguar Land Rover. As I said in my statement, we have recognised the scale of the challenges that the automotive sector faces worldwide. The hon. Lady makes a lot of criticisms, but I say to her that Volkswagen, which is letting 100,000 staff go, is not governed by a Labour Government. We have recognised the global headwinds. It is why we are putting into the automotive sector the biggest investment of the post-war period. Rather than criticising the industrial strategy, she should get in the car and travel that journey with us.

    Hansard source
32. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I thank the Select Committee Chair for that series of questions. I know that for him this is not just a Committee interest but a local interest. I will take his points in reverse order. As I said to my right hon. Friend yesterday in the Select Committee, we have to be very careful about Chinese imports. Our automotive industry is very export-focused, and the industry wants us to be very careful not to do anything in protecting our domestic manufacturers that might hurt them by closing down markets elsewhere. As I said to him yesterday, we are looking carefully at that, but we must be very careful. On energy, we would love to go further than the British industrial competitiveness scheme. It is worth noting that when we initially introduced the proposal for BICS, it was for fewer businesses than will be eligible and will start to apply for it in a matter of days. We will continue to see how far we can go on that, because we are aware of how much of a problem there is for so many parts of industry. Finally, we are working incredibly closely with the mayor. The main request from those involved in the situation at Jaguar Land Rover is that we continue to focus on the support we are giving to them in innovation, for the supply chain and in standing behind them, so that they come out strong and resilient on the other side of these global challenges.

    Hansard source
33. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I thank the hon. Member for those questions. She mentioned the cyber-attack and the £1.5 billion guarantee we gave to stand behind Jaguar Land Rover. That guarantee is still in place; it is there as a form of market reassurance for the company. JLR has not drawn on it yet, but it has served its purpose in reassuring the market. The company is clear that that is only one of the factors; it is as much about challenges in the Chinese market and global trade challenges. The hon. Member rightly asked about the relationship with Europe. I reassure her that at posts in capitals across Europe, Ministers, like me, are constantly engaging with member states and their representatives both on rules-of-origin issues and on the “made in Europe” agenda. One of the encouraging things we see in that process is those arguments being made not only by our industry but by the deeply interconnected other side of the supply chain across the channel with member states. I reassure her that we are working hard on that.

    Hansard source
34. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I know how important Jaguar Land Rover is for my right hon. Friend’s constituents; she voices their concern constantly on their behalf. Jaguar Land Rover has been clear that the job losses are focused largely on back-end and management staff and that the productive staff will not be impacted. That should be a source of encouragement and reassurance to the wider supply chain. We are investing a huge amount into that wider supply chain. A moment ago I mentioned Agratas, where the £380 million investment leverages in £5 billion of investment. I could just as easily talk about the supply-chain pilots through DRIVE35 to ensure that the competitive edge and excellence we have in automotive engineering survives this global challenge period and we come out of it still as a productive and proud car-making nation.

    Hansard source
35. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    Absolutely, I recognise that it is our job to lower costs on the industry. That is why, for example, we are taking action on energy costs to make them more competitive. That should take us roughly to the European average so that we can compete with our nearest neighbours. I pay tribute to the hon. Member’s constituents who are staff at Jaguar Land Rover in Solihull. Just a few days ago, I was at Jaguar Land Rover in Coventry, seeing the extraordinary, almost sci-fi level of work done there. It is right that we express concern and worry for our constituents, but we should also celebrate the incredible manufacturing being done now, which will continue for generations to come.

    Hansard source
36. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I thank my hon. Friend for the question. I know how important JLR is to her constituents: she makes that clear constantly to me and other Ministers. The key thing we can do is to invest in the company’s future productive capacity. I mentioned the investment in Agratas a moment ago, and recently we made substantial investment through DRIVE35 into software-defined vehicle research in the company. The conversation that we are having with JLR right now is about how to protect not just high-value jobs directly in JLR but the high-value jobs in the wider supply chain that so many of our constituents rely on.

    Hansard source
37. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    Well, I agreed with the hon. Lady right up until the end there: we have to keep investing in JLR to secure those jobs. I met some of her constituents last week and felt their sense of pride. This is not just about jobs or economic production; it is part of the sense of local pride in her area. When we and the Secretary of State met the union and management earlier on, we pressed them on exactly those issues. The conversation was about the phasing of those changes, how they interact with the roll-out of the new models and when those job losses would kick in. The union and the business will continue to work on that, and we will continue that conversation as well.

    Hansard source
38. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    My hon. Friend rightly says that Jaguar Land Rover and the other big automotive names do not exist in isolation; they are part of much wider supply chains. On the issue of access to finance and funding, obviously a lot of the DRIVE35 programme goes to those larger companies, but it goes right across that supply chain, investing in so many of the strengths that we have, particularly electric propulsion and software-defined vehicles. In addition, £50 million has been devolved to the mayor in the west midlands to work on those supply-chain resiliences, and we will continue to work with the mayor to agree what needs to be done to secure those supply chains for the future as we go through this pretty challenging period for automotive.

    Hansard source
39. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I may look suave and debonaire, but I am not James Bond, so I will resist commenting on the attribution of that. It would be for the Minister for Security and the Home Secretary to do that; these are serious matters. What I will say is that we were right to put that £1.5 billion in place. It has not been drawn on, but it did give a vote of confidence to one of our most important manufacturers at a moment of genuine crisis.

    Hansard source
40. 9 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Blair McDougall

    Jaguar Land Rover: Redundancies

    I can reassure my hon. Friend on that. I should say that in our conversations, Jaguar Land Rover has been at pains to talk about this. It was described earlier as bitter medicine, but JLR is not in any way rowing back from its investment. It is investing really significantly in the future of the company. We will be alongside it as it makes those strategic investments, and as it makes sure, as my hon. Friend says, that it continues to flourish for a long time to come.

    Hansard source