Jaguar Land Rover axes 500 management jobs just two months after Starmer boasted of 'saving' staff

The Tata-owned firm said around 1.5 per cent of its UK workforce would be affected by the job cuts, which are going as part of a voluntary redundancy programme for managers in the UK.

The cuts come just two months after Keir Starmer said he had saved the jobs of workers at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) after he made a promise in April to do so.

A spokesperson for JLR said: "As part of normal business practice, we regularly offer eligible employees the opportunity to leave JLR through limited voluntary redundancy programmes."

It comes after JLR revealed last week that retail sales plunged 15.1 per cent in the three months to June after a temporary pause in exports to the US and the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.

The company said the significant fall in sales was partly driven by the pause in shipments to the US in April after US President Donald Trump’s administration introduced new tariff plans.

In April, the US government said it would launch an additional 25 per cent tariff on car imports into the US, in an effort to encourage more car production within the country.

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However, the US and UK have since agreed a deal which would see a lower 10 per cent tariff applied to the first 100,000 UK-manufactured cars imported into the US each year.

UK cars imported to the US beyond this threshold will however face a 27.5 per cent tariff.

JLR halted new shipments to the US in April but restarted exports in early May amid hopes that a trade deal for the sector would be struck.

The car firm saw wholesale sales in North America drop by 12.2 per cent year-on-year after the pause.

But wholesale sales in the UK were also heavily down – tumbling 25.5 per cent in the second quarter – after the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.

Jaguar stopped selling new cars in the UK late last year as it shifts its production to new electric models, which are set to go on sale in 2026.

Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: "This is a huge personal embarrassment for Keir Starmer.

"Two months ago, the Prime Minister looked workers at JLR in the eye and promised them he would protect their jobs – now 500 are to go.

"This Government isn’t serious about business – the jobs tax, the union red tape and their net zero obsession. It’s no wonder unemployment is rising."

The JLR spokesperson added: "JLR regularly offers eligible employees voluntary redundancy programmes. Through this limited UK VR programme for managers, JLR is aligning its leadership workforce for the business’s current and future needs. We are grateful to the Government for delivering at speed the new UK-US trade deal, which gives us the confidence to invest £3.5bn per annum to realise our strategy which is delivering."