Boris Johnson claims he knows more about making cars than the boss of Jaguar Land Rover as he insists motor industry will survive Brexit
- Johnson suggested he knew more about car making than Raplh Speth today
- The Jaguar Land Rover boss has criticised a no deal Brexit as bad for industry
- But Johnson said he had a better idea of what it would mean for the economy
- He claimed he had been vindicated when telling Speth to focus on electric cars
Boris Johnson suggested he knows more about making cars than the boss of Jaguar Land Rover today as he insisted the motor industry would survive Brexit.
The former foreign secretary said JLR had admitted its current problems were fuelled by a collapse in sales of diesel cars and China.
The firm – Britain’s biggest carmaker – announced last week it was cutting 5,000 jobs.
Boris Johnson suggested he knows more about making cars than the boss of Jaguar Land Rover today as he insisted the motor industry would survive Brexit
The former foreign secretary said JLR boss Ralf Speth (file) had admitted its current problems were fuelled by a collapse in sales of diesel cars and China
On a call-in with LBC today, Mr Johnson dismissed claims Brexit would damage the economy and said that ’employment was prophesied to increase by half a million as a result of the temerity of the British people to leave’.
He said: ‘If you look at the reasons for the redundancies at JLR, as the management themselves pointed out, it’s overwhelmingly to do with the diesel crisis and the climb in markets in China.’
In response, host Nick Ferrari quoted JLR CEO Ralf Speth saying it would be very critical if we see a hard Brexit or no deal.
‘Companies will disappear, plants will close, there’s no way to survive hard Brexit for many industries.’ I would suggest he knows more about car manufacturers than you do,’ Mr Ferrari said.
‘Actually that’s an interesting point, I’m not certain he does by the way,’ Mr Johnson responded.
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Mr Johnson said that while he was London Mayor he urged Mr Speth to switch focus to electric cars – only to be told JLR would ‘stick with diesel’.
Mr Johnson said: ‘I think events have vindicated me on that point rather than him.’
Mr Johnson is among the leaders of a Tory revolt against Theresa May’s Brexit deal which will finally come to a vote tomorrow night.
Asked by LBC what would happen tomorrow, Mr Johnson (pictured today on the show) said: ‘I think the deal goes down’
Asked by LBC what would happen tomorrow, Mr Johnson said: ‘I think the deal goes down.
‘I think, possibly, some colleagues are being scared by this idea that there might be no Brexit as a result of voting it down.
‘I think that’s nonsense. ‘Britain will leave in March, absolutely, and that’s the bottom line.’
A dozen leading Brexiteers – including eight former members of Theresa May’s Cabinet – have written to all Conservative MPs urging them to vote against the Prime Minister’s deal.
In a joint letter sent to every Tory MP, former ministers including Mr Johnson, David Davis and Dominic Raab call upon Mrs May to stage one final attempt to persuade the EU to drop the Irish backstop which threatens to halt Britain’s exit from the custom union indefinitely.
But if the EU fails to comply on agreeing such a deal, the Britain must ‘have the confidence’ to leave on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms on March 29.
The letter is also signed by other former Cabinet members including Iain Duncan Smith, Esther McVey and Priti Patel.
They write: ‘It is right to vote down this bad deal and that in doing so we will unlock a better future for our party, our country and its people.’
They add: ‘A managed WTO Brexit may give rise to some short-term inconvenience and disruption, but the much greater risks arise from being locked into a very bad deal.’
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