Honda in Swindon — House of Lords, 2019-02-19
Topic: Foreign Trade
Charlotte Vere (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, with the leave of the House I will repeat a Statement made in the other place by my right honourable friend Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Statement is as follows: "Mr Speaker, with your permission I would like to make a Statement about Honda. This morning, Honda announced that future models of its Civic car, which are currently made in Swindon will, after 2021, be made in Japan. The Civic is the only vehicle that is made by Honda in Swindon, so the result of that decision is that the company’s manufacturing plant will close in 2021. I am not going to understate what a bitter blow this is to the 3,500 skilled and dedicated workers at Honda in Swindon and their families, to the many more people and businesses who supply the plant, to the town of Swindon, which has been proud to be home, for 34 years, to one of the best car factories in the world, and to the whole British economy. Honda has given the reason for its decision as accelerating the move to electric propulsion and choosing to consolidate investment in its facilities in Japan Following the entry into force of the EU-Japan free trade agreement earlier this month, tariffs for cars exported from Japan to the EU will drop from 10% currently to zero by 1 January 2026. Honda will then export from Japan, rather than Britain, to Europe and the rest of the world. The company has stated that Bracknell will be retained as its European headquarters, that it will continue to base its Formula 1 operation in Britain and that its research and development centre into electrification and connected and autonomous technologies will continue at Swindon Honda has announced an immediate consultation with the trade unions and suppliers on this plan. I have spoken with the trade unions, local Members of Parliament, the leader of Swindon Borough Council and the chair of the local enterprise partnership. Shortly, I will chair, in Swindon, the first meeting of a task force comprising these people and others to do everything we can to ensure that the much-valued workforce of Honda in Swindon find new opportunities which can make use of their skills and experience. We will work with the local community to ensure that Swindon’s justified reputation as being a place of industrial excellence in manufacturing, technology and services is maintained and expanded In our automotive sector, we will work in close partnership with an industry that is going through a period of technological change and adjustment throughout the world greater than at any time in its history—a period of change that is disruptive and even painful for many, but in which Britain’s industry can emerge as a global leader if we back innovation in new sources of power and navigation: one of the four grand challenges of our industrial strategy and the focus of the automotive sector deal I and many other colleagues in this House of all parties have worked hard over the past three years to make the case for investment in Britain to investors in this country and around the world, despite the uncertainty that Brexit has put into the assessments of investors in Japan and around the world. We have secured investments during this time from Nissan, Toyota, Geely, BMW, PSA, Aston Martin, Williams and many smaller firms. We have an international reputation for being a place to do business, with skilled, motivated staff, access to innovation—especially in automotive, which is the best on the planet—and a determination to make those strengths even greater during the years ahead This is a devastating decision that has been made today: one that requires us to do whatever and all that it takes to ensure that in the years to come, Honda will once again, building on its continued presence here, recognise Britain as the best place to do business and to build some of the best vehicles in the world" My Lords, that concludes the Statement.