A move in the government's new budget will help companies – including firms in the West Midlands – "sell more cars" the chancellor has claimed.

Rachel Reeves also indicated support for a planned gigafactory in the region on a visit to Coventry.

She made the comments while visiting University Hospital in Walsgrave alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday, 31 October. It comes after the government revealed billion-pound pledges in its budget this week.

These include £2 billion over five years to support the car industry – a sector with tens of thousands of jobs in the West Midlands – and £5.8 billion to bring in private investment in projects including gigafactories.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) put questions to Ms Reeves on her visit yesterday.

Asked about the £2 billion for the automotive sector which specifically includes "zero emissions cars," she said: "We do need to sort of make that transition towards electric vehicles.

"I know JLR's already well advanced on that route.

"We also did some stuff in the budget yesterday to make electric vehicles even more attractive to buy them, which will help companies like Jaguar Land Rover and others in the West Midlands sell more cars and help us on that journey and make sure we keep car manufacturing here in the West Midlands."

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She added that a new "wealth fund" has gigafactories – huge plants that make batteries mainly for electric cars – as one of its "priorities." 

She said: "I know that there's a massive opportunity. We've been working with Richard Parker, our Mayor for the West Midlands, on making sure that we get that gigafactory there."

"People in Coventry should be in no doubt about our commitment to gigafactories including here in Coventry. And yesterday was another step on that journey, making that money available as part of the industrial strategy for the automotive sector," she later added.

A planned battery plant at Coventry airport has been in the works for years and now has measures aimed at bringing in investment.

However, it has still not yet landed an investor and the project was not specifically mentioned in the recent budget – though West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker told the BBC discussions with investors and the government are "ongoing."

Ms Reeves also highlighted the West Midlands and "Coventry in particular" while discussing the UK's industrial strategy, a 10 year plan aiming to drive growth.  She referred to their "strengths in advanced manufacturing – partly because of the automotive sector, partly because of the work that happens out of Warwick University." 

She claimed the country has not had an industrial strategy in years and said it will be a key part of the government's growth strategy.

A recent draft of the plan highlights the West Midlands as one of the UK's "burgeoning centres of modern industry" and the full document is set to be published next year.

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