Why there should be a distinction between banking and car making

Do read Hamish McRae's article in the Independent this morning warning of the dangers of the government going down the route of supporting Jaguar and reminding us not to compare the situation with that of the banks

had the Government not rescued and re-capitalised the banks they might have gone under. A collapse of any large bank would be so catastrophic to the whole economy that it could not be risked. Cars matter but banks matter more. By contrast Land Rover and Jaguar have the backing of a powerful Indian industrial group; they have only been acquired a few months ago; and while Tata is under pressure right now, its survival is not in question.

Its a good point although I am sure that the public have yet to be convinced that saving jobs in the banking sector is more important than saving jobs in the rest of the economy

More bad news for the car sector

As the row over whether the government should intervene over Jaguar more dire news for the UK car market which saw saw output fall by 33 per cent in November.

This from Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.

The UK motor industry is facing unprecedented challenges and urgent action is now required. The sector has seen falls in demand, extended plant closures and the first signs of redundancies in the supply chain.Without swift action and the ability to access credit and finance, significant damage will be done to the nation’s industrial capability – leaving the UK poorly equipped to take advantage of any global growth when it returns.”