Midland car giant Jaguar Land Rover has warned it urgently needs "greater certainty" on Brexit to continue to invest heavily in the UK and safeguard suppliers, customers and 40,000 British-based jobs.

The warning from the country's biggest carmaker follows similar statements from BMW and Airbus - and comes ahead of a crucial meeting of the Cabinet in Friday to finalise a White Paper on Brexit.

Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive of JLR, said the company's "heart and soul was in the UK".

Jaguar cars on the production line at the Castle Bromwich factory
Jaguar cars on the production line at the Castle Bromwich factory

He said: "However we, and our partners in the supply chain, face an unpredictable future if the Brexit negotiations do not maintain free and frictionless trade with the EU and unrestricted access to the single market.

"We urgently need greater certainty to continue to invest heavily in the UK and safeguard our suppliers, customers and 40,000 British-based employees.

"A bad Brexit deal would cost Jaguar Land Rover more than £1.2 billion profit each year.

"As a result, we would have to drastically adjust our spending profile. We have spent around £50 billion in the UK in the past five years, with plans for a further £80 billion more in the next five.

"This would be in jeopardy should we be faced with the wrong outcome.

"For more than 250 years, since the era of Adam Smith, Britain has championed free markets and made the case for free trade.

"If the UK automotive industry is to remain globally competitive and protect 300,000 jobs in Jaguar Land Rover and our supply chain, we must retain tariff and customs-free access to trade and talent with no change to current EU regulations."

Birmingham Yardley Labour MP Jess Phillips said: "JLR and suppliers have been the slow but sure greenshoots of rebuilding industry in the Midlands.

"They have invested in apprenticeships and reached out to people classically excluded from the workforce, such as women and young offenders. Their warnings should be heard."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, which represents automotive and manufacturing workers, said: "JLR is one of the manufacturing success stories of this country. Much of that is down to the dedication of a workforce who have fought tooth and claw for a future.

“But now tens of thousands of decent jobs - the sort we will need more than ever outwith the EU - are being put at risk by a government that places its survival, indulging narrow, extremist views, above the well-being of the people of this country.

"This is simply not acceptable.

“So I say this to the Tory party, our jobs are not yours to play Russian roulette with. Drop your red lines and secure a decent deal, one that is to the benefit of the working people of this country. And if you cannot agree to put people before your ideology then move over and let a party that will, get on with it.

“I also say this to any employer of Unite members; if you think that a Tory Brexit is a green light for the dash to the door, or to diminish pay and living standards, then think again. We will never allow our members to suffer because your profits are being put before our people.

“Business, if you care about decent jobs and a stable future for generations to come then do not allow these Tory Brexit nightmares to come true. Show your faith in the workers of this nation by talking to us now about how we can keep skills and prosperity in this country."