AN emergency government package to prevent a jobs bloodbath following the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover is imminent.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said he was looking at “partnering” with the embattled car firm to stop its suppliers going bust.
Peter Kyle said he was looking at ‘partnering’ with the embattled car firm to stop its suppliers going bust[/caption]
Employees on the production line at Tata’s Jaguar plant[/caption]
He told The Sun: “JLR and its supply chain can be sure that Government will help in a way that backs industry and supports jobs.”
An announcement on the precise government intervention is still being finalised and is expected this weekend.
Mr Kyle has been locked in “intense conversations” with JLR and its parent company Tata after the hack forced production at its UK plants to shut down.
While they are “highly profitable”, smaller companies whose entire business relies on selling parts to JLR have warned they face collapse.
Mr Kyle said he has been “energetic and creative in thinking of ways” to stop these suppliers going over a cliff.
He did not rule out reports that the Government could buy the parts from the suppliers while JLR’s systems were down.
Yet he said: “But I also have high expectations of them as companies [JLR and Tata] to do what’s right for the interest of workers in the supply chain.”
He said that JLR must “remain in the lead” and that “my job as Secretary of State is not to step in and run JLR.”
Mr Kyle suggested that in future private companies would have obligations to “maintain the very highest level of cybersecurity”.
The Business Secretary said: “I will not stand for companies not investing in cybersecurity and then looking to government, looking to taxpayers, to come in and be the white knight.
“This is very hard to codify, but we are responsible for maintaining the integrity of our private sector into the future, but also safeguarding taxpayers’ money.”
The Business Secretary told The Sun: ‘JLR and its supply chain can be sure that Government will help in a way that backs industry and supports jobs’[/caption]
