More government help might be needed for Jaguar Land Rover, says MP

More government assistance for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and its vast supply chain cannot be ruled out, a local MP has said, after the government announced it was backing a £1.5bn loan for the car maker.

Production at JLR's facilities in the UK have been suspended for nearly a month, and there have been growing concerns that some of JLR's supplies could collapse within a week due to the ongoing shutdown.

Liam Byrne, a West Midlands MP and chair of the Commons Business and Trade Select Committee said it "could well be" that other support was needed beyond the loan.

He also warned that without a better government and business effort, these cyber-attacks will become more frequent.

"I don't think we can rule out further intervention," said Byrne, who is the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North.

"It could well be that there are other instruments needed – something like a Covid-style loan for example may be needed for some suppliers, but we've got to make sure this first big loan package is put to work first."

Production is not expected to resume at JLR's facilities in Solihull and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and Halewood in Merseyside until 1 October at the earliest, one month after production was first paused in response to the cyber-attack.