With days to go before the British parliament votes on Theresa May’s contentious deal that will see the UK leaving the EU by March, India-owned luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will be axing 4 500 employees.
The UK-originated brand has been hard-pressed since the announcement to explain that the job cuts are across the spectrum and do not necessarily impact on its UK work force alone.
However, of the 44 000 people the company employs, at least 42 500 are based in Britain.
JLR CEO Ralf Speth said the cuts stemmed from growing sales depletion of diesel-driven cars vs increased interest in electric vehicles.
But considering last year’s announcements by JLR that Brexit could affect the company’s sustainability in the UK, the job cuts are generally thought to be the result of Britain’s looming split from the common market.
In the meantime Ford has also announced massive restructuring, the details of which are still to be revealed, mainly because of Brexit’s predicted impact on the UK economy.
And as May prepares herself for a possible “no” vote against the deal that has drawn derision and denouncement from without and within her own ranks, Labour is baying for her blood.
Opposition party leader Jeremy Corbyn appears to be pulling out all the stops to get May sacked, even going so far as to call for early elections.
May has since warned that a possible “no” vote next week against her Brexit deal could make for a messy break-up, if not jeopardising the chances of any Brexit at all.
