Hundreds of Honda workers protest

Hundreds of Honda workers in Swindon, England have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the planned closure of their town’s car factory.

Thousands of people from across the country joined them on a protest march after the Japanese firm announced it intends to close the manufacturing plant by 2021.

Around 3,500 people in Swindon are set to lose their jobs if the factory closes, with a knock-on impact on more than 15,000 workers in the supply chain across the UK, according to the leading trade union Unite.

A Unite spokesman said: "The thing for us is sending a message to Honda in Japan that this is a community that won't sit back and allow car manufacturing in the town to end. There's a real upbeat atmosphere and people are firmly of the belief that there is an alternative and the plant can stay open."

The plant is the manufacturer’s only car factory in the EU and produces over 150,000 vehicles a year. Its closure is a major blow to the British car industry. 

“We recognise this is an unsettling time for our associates and the local community," said a Honda spokesman in a statement. "We are consulting on this proposal with our associates and their representatives. It is not appropriate to pre-empt the outcome of this consultation or comment on its activities.”

When the company announced the proposed closure in February it said the move came as part of efforts to increase production of electric cars.

Katsushi Inoue, the president of Honda Motor Europe, said last month: “In light of the unprecedented changes that are affecting our industry, it is vital that we accelerate our electrification strategy and restructure our global operations accordingly.

“As a result, we have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future. This has not been taken lightly and we deeply regret how unsettling today’s announcement will be for our people.”