No denying Brexit made Honda factory vulnerable
Responding to Honda’s announcement that its plant in Swindon is set to close with a loss of 3,500 jobs, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake said:
No matter how hard the Conservatives try to spin this news, there’s no denying that Brexit made Honda’s factory in Swindon more vulnerable to closure.
This decision is a body-blow for the thousands of workers who now face redundancy, not to mention the huge risk posed to the rest of the car industry, for which there is no Brexit ‘dividend’.
People deserve better than this. They deserve an opportunity to reject this mess. That is why the Liberal Democrats are leading the campaign for a People’s Vote and the chance to stop Brexit.
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5 Comments
Surely the proposed Honda plant closure in Swindon was due to the EU trade deal with Japan which eliminates the tariff on the import of Japanese cars to the UK.
Worldwide car sales are down. Why would Honda leave Japanese car assembly plants operating 20% below capacity when they can make cars for the UK in the same Japanese plant once they no longer suffer prohibitive UK import tariffs? The alternative would be to consolidate the manufacture of Honda cars in the UK but the plant is too small to supply the Japanese domestic market.
Bless David, no just no. Take some responsiblity for your vote.
HONDA has admitted that it had already invested in manufacturing the next line of electric vehicles in Swindon.
Senior figures at Honda told workers at the plant that robot technology to build electric cars was being delivered by boat, before the sudden announcement last week that the plant will close.
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17471496.honda-reveals-it-had-plans-to-make-electric-cars-in-swindon-before-plant-closure/
Wonder why they changed their minds, bit of a clue David it starts with a big B.
@ frankie,
You could be understating your case. Brexit has already just about wiped out the Australian car industry too. There are job losses happening in the USA and Germany. I won’t give links to them all. Just this one in Germany. You can easily Google them for yourself.
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/ford-eyes-plant-closures-it-wields-ax-europe
If Brexit happens and more car manufacturers leave, I don’t think they will be back. Besides losing access to the Single Market, there is also the matter of trust and competence. The Tory government’s inability to manage the Brexit process has been plain for the world to see. What is the economic model post-Brexit?
I was in several meetings with top UK and European management of vehicle manufacturing companies last year. They all made it very clear. If the UK leaves the EU, they will continue to make existing models for the time being but new models will be built elsewhere.