Minister to meet Jaguar Land Rover boss as thousands of job cuts expected

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will meet the bosses of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and the Unite union to discuss the impact of thousands of expected job cuts at the car maker.

JLR confirmed to the BBC it is opening a voluntary redundancy programme, a year on from a cyber attack which brought production to a halt for more than a month.

The company did not confirm the numbers but the Times reported as many as 4,000 jobs may be lost due to the impact of tariffs and a drop in sales.

Reynolds told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the meeting early next week will focus on ways to "mitigate any job losses" but ruled out a bailout for the company.

Asked about the cuts, which are believed to impact mainly white collar workers, Reynolds said: "A company the size of JLR, which is a huge British success story, at various times in its business cycle, the number of, directly, people it employs will change.

"If this is about making sure over time that the workforce is right to make the business as competitive as possible, that's the conversation we need to have."

He said there would be no support "if it's to bail people out", but opened the door to a "long-term investment in the future" of the company.

The cuts come as Chancellor John Healey is preparing to deliver a speech in the Midlands on Monday promising to boost economic growth by changing how the government values investment in infrastructure such as transport and housing. JLR is based in Coventry, in the West Midlands.