'Difficult day for Luton': Minister react to Vauxhall closure news

Just staying on that point of coordination, and you would expect me to say this as a champion of manufacturing and of automotive, we have been hearing for months and for years the problems that our Motor Manufacturers are having with the electric vehicle mandate. Is there going to be change on that soon? I certainly hope so, yes. Well, this is a very significant priority and I think you will be almost certainly aware by now of the news from Stolantis and obviously the news from forward last week. This is a very difficult day for Luton particularly I feel in a whole range of areas. And I'll say a bit more on this. I'm actually at the SMM TS annual dinner this evening. We have got to not in any way undermine the transition that we know we have to get to in this case around electric vehicles. I think the the previous intervention from the previous Prime Minister and the impact I had on consumer confidence was, was very much regrettable. But we've got to make sure policy's working in the way that gets us there. And I don't see any tension between commit being committed to that transition and to UK manufacturing. I've said repeatedly that for me, decarbonisation cannot mean deindustrialisation. I've got no interest in the country hitting its climate targets by shutting down jobs and industry. That's just not the way we get. It's got to be about that transition. And so yes, myself and, and the transport secretary who I work with very closely around this are looking at that particular policy that said mandate to make sure it's operating in such a way that allows British manufacturing to get to that destination. And there'll be a consultation announced in in due course on an expedited time scale that allows us to consider is that policy currently operating as anyone expected it to? I don't think it is. And I get the seriousness and the urgency of the situation. OK. Thank you.