Brexit car threat

Hundreds of thousands of automotive jobs will be at risk if the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal, MPs have warned.

A hard Brexit will devastate the industry, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee report found.

Unite echoed the report’s findings, which matches the union’s own research, and called for comprehensive deal that ensures barrier free access to the EU.

The report concluded that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would put hundreds of thousands of UK jobs at risk and threaten hundreds of millions of pounds of inward investment.

The report further found that non-tariff barriers in the form of increased bureaucracy and border delays will dramatically affect the UK’s competitiveness.

Automotive supply chain

Just a minute’s delay per vehicle at UK’s borders would have severe effects on the automotive supply chain.

Every day, 1,100 lorries carrying automotive parts arrive from the EU, with many automotive companies operating a just-in-time operation with assembly sites storing just 20 minutes of materials.

The BEIS committee recommended that the UK still follow EU car industry rules after Brexit, which is at odds with Theresa May’s latest Brexit approach of “ambitious managed divergence”.

BEIS committee chair Rachel Reeves said, “Regulatory consistency and friction-free trade benefits car companies, consumers and car-workers.

“The prime minister now needs to ensure common-sense pragmatism prevails and spell out the government’s intention to seek continued regulatory and trading alignment with the EU in the automotive sector.”

Secure trading agreements call

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke pointed out that the best way to protect the automotive industry is to secure trading arrangements that encompass the UK’s entire manufacturing base.

“This report is a welcome acknowledgment of Unite’s long-held position that a ‘hard’ Brexit would be a mortal blow for the UK’s automotive industry,” said Burke.

“It is absolutely essential for the well-being of the car industry that the UK retains tariff free access after it leaves the European Union. The only sensible way of achieving this is for the government to negotiate a customs union.

“The car industry would be hugely affected by a ‘hard’ Brexit but there should not be a specific deal just for this sector. It is essential that all the UK’s manufacturing base is protected by future barrier free access.”

Burke also said that is essential for the future of the UK’s car industry to maintain regulatory alignment with EU after Brexit.

He added, “The government must act on this report’s findings, rather than trying to ignore reality. If it cannot negotiate a deal, which defends hundreds of thousands of highly skilled manufacturing jobs, then it must step aside for a Labour government which will.”

Unite leader Len McCluskey said that is not just in the manufacturing and auto industries that “Tory dithering and division” is causing real concern.

“Investment is drying up, and our BrexitCheck surveys are finding that some employers are using the uncertainty to hold down wages,” McCluskey said.

“Jeremy Corbyn has said that Labour would negotiate to save the trading arrangements on which jobs depend, end freedom of movement and take on the greedy bosses to ensure ‘a rate for the job, not a race to the bottom’. Unite welcomed his pledges.

“It was a message that united business and the unions. It is a way to stop Brexit taking all the bandwidth. But it needs a Labour government to deliver it.”