MPs urge government to shield JLR supply chain as cyber attack bites

West Midlands MPs have written to the government over the risk to jobs in the Jaguar Land Rover supply chain after a cyber attack disrupted the carmaker's operations, urging the business secretary to focus attention on the issue and to assess the potential knock-on effects for UK manufacturing.

The letter, led by Antonia Bance, the Labour MP for Tipton and Wednesbury, and signed by dozens of colleagues from the West Midlands and Merseyside, warns that suppliers are already facing cash-flow pressures as production stalls ripple through the network. "A number of the plants in my area have sent all of their staff home and stopped production," Bance said. "Most of them are continuing to pay their staff, but obviously that's a real financial strain on these sometimes quite small businesses, particularly when there is no end in sight." JLR bosses have provided some briefing to MPs, but the firm has not defined how long the disruption will last, according to lawmakers.

Firms have sought help from their own lenders, with some able to extend overdraft facilities to bridge the gap while the carmaker works to restore operations. The MPs say JLR’s supply chain is composed largely of small and medium-sized enterprises whose survival depends on a timely restart of production. They warned that without clarity on duration, the risk of layoffs could grow, especially as plants in the region brace for a busy pre-Christmas period.

The lawmakers urged the government to consider measures such as a furlough-style scheme or loan guarantees to preserve jobs and skills in the region, arguing that government support could help safeguard a sector that is central to the West Midlands’ economy. Bance emphasized that the focus is not on failing firms, but on thriving suppliers that could hire more staff if they were not hit by the cyber event. "We are not talking about businesses that are otherwise in trouble," she said. "We’re talking about businesses that are thriving, who are looking to take on more staff, and if this cyber attack hadn’t happened would be running up towards Christmas at full tilt." She added that it would be reasonable for people to seek other jobs if they believed their current employers could not keep them on.

Tata Motors, which owns JLR, was called on to do "absolutely everything they can" to protect the supply chain, including possible financial support, the MPs said. The letter argued that if Britain wants to sustain a home-grown manufacturing base and a country that makes things, the government may have to step in. The authors argued that the West Midlands’ car industry has long been a source of pride and would benefit from a clear plan to shield the supply chain from future disruptions.

The cyber attack that triggered the disruption is unfolding amid ongoing debates about the resilience of Britain’s manufacturing network. MPs stressed that the attack’s effects are being felt not only at JLR plants but also among a broad set of suppliers, and that the government’s response could set a precedent for how the UK safeguards strategic industries during a period of rapid technological change. The signatories to the letter include: West Midlands Antonia Bance MP Alex Ballinger MP Chris Bloore MP Laurence Turner MP Sureena Brackenridge MP Sarah Edwards MP Josh Newbury MP Gurinder Singh Josan MP Sonia Kumar MP John Slinger MP Valerie Vaz MP Preet Kaur Gill MP Warinder Juss MP Liam Byrne MP Jodie Gosling Cat Eccles MP Dr Allison Gardner MP Tahir Ali MP Jacob Collier MP Rachel Taylor MP Matt Western MP Gareth Snell MP Merseyside Derek Twigg MP Anneliese Midgley MP Kim Johnson MP Maria Eagle MP Bill Esterson MP Peter Dowd MP Ian Byrne MP Paula Barker MP Marie Rimmer MP