Prime Minister praises Coventry’s Jaguar Land Rover as blueprint of post-Brexit economy

Prime Minister Theresa May praised Coventry and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as a “jewel in the crown of the British economy” in an excusive Telegraph editorial last week.

This followed days after high-level talks were held at the University’s Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) between Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Ralf Speth, WMG chairman and Labour peer Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya and the then-Conservative candidate for West Midlands mayor, Andy Street, who has since been elected to the office.

The Prime Minister stated: “Coventry was one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution, and it remains an industrial powerhouse to this day.”

“Coventry’s future success will be built on the strong foundations of engineering and manufacturing for which the city has always been famous.”

In the run-up the West Midlands mayoral elections last Thursday and the General Elections on 8 June, Ms May alleged that the Labour Party had taken “Coventry for granted and was arrogant in presuming that voters in the city would support their candidates”.

Ms May added: “Andy Street will have the ear of central government should he be elected as the new West Midland mayor.”

“He is someone I know and respect. When Andy speaks, Whitehall and Westminster listen.”

Mr Street has recently travelled to Mumbai, India, where JLR’s parent company Tata is based, to hold discussions on the firm’s future prospects.

The Prime Minister concluded by stating that “the Modern Industrial Strategy which my government is developing will learn the lessons which Coventry has to teach, as we seek to spread opportunity and prosperity to every community in or country.”

Ms May travelled to Wolverhampton at the end of last week to congratulate the new mayor.