News from Sheffield Labour

Blomfield urges the Treasury to support the British car industry and protect local jobs

Paul Blomfield, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Sheffield Central, has called for the Treasury to provide help to support Jaguar and the struggling British car industry.

British car firms are struggling due to a lack of liquidity in the financial system. Paul Blomfield has called for the Treasury to provide short-term loans, repayable with interest, which would instantly put liquidity back into the system. Paul Blomfield said the knock-on effect to our manufacturing supply chain would be huge if firms like Jaguar failed.

Paul spoke after visiting the Hatfields Jaguar dealership and talking with Andrew Jeffery, the dealership’s General Manager, Paul said:

“Britain’s world-class car industry is clearly being hit hard at the minute as the credit crunch has slowed the market down. I think it would be wrong for great British brands like Jaguar to go to the wall simply because they can’t access credit. Short-term repayable loans to our car companies will keep them trading and safeguard tens of thousands of jobs in our car manufacturing industry.”

“Over 25 suppliers in the Sheffield area provide parts for Jaguar and I want these local jobs to be protected. Companies like Jaguar create top-quality engineering jobs as they put millions into research and development to create greener cars of the future. The British car industry can have a bright future if it is helped out through these tough times.”

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