Target sectors that need support before writing them off

Ministers and the region’s Conservative mayor are acting like all this is inevitable

region. A long-time major player in the automotive industry as the home of Jaguar Land Rover, the West Midlands is now leading the way in developing the zero-carbon transport of the future.

It’s also home to the National College for High-Speed Rail, training up the next generation of rail engineers.

There are more than 300,000 people working in manufacturing in the West Midlands – more than any other region in the UK.

Almost 12 per cent of the entire workforce in the region works in manufacturing. It’s clear the industry plays a vital role in the local economy.

But following decades of decline due to deindustrialisation, manufacturing has now been brutally buffeted by the coronavirus pandemic. When factories closed their doors as businesses did the right thing and followed public health guidelines, orders dried up and income fell away. Manufacturing has been one of the hardest-hit sectors, along with the aviation, hospitality and retail sectors.

The country has been rocked by mass redundancies announced with grim regularity. Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, and JCB have already announced in total more than 2,000 job losses. And it is thought that more will come. The trade body Make UK has warned that more than half of manufacturing companies plan to make redundancies in the next six months.

Ministers and the region’s Conservative mayor are acting like all this is inevitable, but it isn’t a foregone conclusion. Labour has called repeatedly for government support to be targeted to those sectors that have been hardest hit.

Right now, it is being withdrawn from all businesses alike, whatever their sector or circumstance. If you’re unable to produce and trade properly, if you’re slowly recovering but still struggling because you did the right thing, too bad.

They will argue, wrongly, that Labour is asking for indefinite support for businesses. That’s not true. We want support to be targeted at those that need it most while the crisis rages on, and for ministers to recognise that it is inherently unfair to treat all sectors alike.

It’s not just morally wrong, but foolish, to turn a blind eye to the impact of this blanket approach on regions like the West Midlands.

Livelihoods will be lost, and we will all pay the price if we damage this strategically significant manufacturing powerhouse – which reaps huge economic benefits for our country. The government needs to do right by the West Midlands, not write it off.

Matthew Pennycook is Labour’s

Shadow Minister for Business