Starmer pledges West Midlands gigafactory

Sir Keir Starmer met with advanced manufacturing apprentices during a visit to Coventry

Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would build a gigafactory in the West Midlands, if the party wins the next general election.

Speaking on a visit to Coventry a day after insisting he had no choice but to ditch Labour's £28bn-a-year green investment pledge, he said one of eight new gigafactories in his scaled back proposals would be in the region.

"Gigafactories are so important for the next generation of building cars and vehicles. One of those [gigafactories] will be in the West Midlands," he said.

However, the Labour leader stopped short of committing to building the factory in Coventry, where the owner of Jaguar Land Rover opted not to build one last year.

Sir Keir added: "There's further discussions to be had about precisely where that [gigafactory] will be.

"I understand the disappointment in relation to the decision that was taken, and I absolutely think that these gigafactories are vitally important for our economy."

The Labour leader insisted his green investment plans were still ambitious, despite scaling them back

Outline planning permission was given in 2022 for a gigafactory at Coventry Airport, with the hope of creating 6,000 jobs on the site.

It had been hoped that Tata Group, which owns Jaguar Land Rover, would choose the site to produce electric car batteries.

However, in July 2023 the firm said it was building a £4bn facility in Somerset instead.

Sir Keir said he understood the "disappointment" over that decision.