MPs have warned the UK must abandon its Brexit plans and sign up to EU institutions and rules if it hopes to save major car manufacturers

It comes after Midland-based Jaguar Land Rover announced it was introducing a three-day-week at its Castle Bromwich plant, due partly to Brexit uncertainty.

The House of Commons Brexit Committee urged the British government to consider staying in the EU single market and the customs union, an arrangement currently rejected by the Government.

It follows warnings from carmakers such as Jaguar Land Rover that they must be able to continue importing car parts from EU countries without restrictions, in order to protect UK jobs.

That’s because they use a manufacturing process known as “just in time”, in which parts arrive at the factory as they are needed. If components are delayed because of border checks then manufacturing is likely to grind to a halt.

The Brexit Committee warned that the European Union’s proposed trade agreement with the UK, which is based on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) signed between the EU and Canada, would not protect manufacturers.

It said: “The Commission is proposing a CETA-style Free Trade Agreement, but we note that this would not, on its own, ensure the type of friction-free trade that many companies with just-in-time supply chains need.”

And MPs said the UK Government’s proposals, known as the Chequers agreement, were doomed to failure because the EU will not agree to them.

MPs said one solution would be to stay in the European Economic Area. This means staying in the EU’s single market and the Customs Union, allowing products to be moved without restriction between the EU and the UK.

Some Brexiteers oppose this option because it would mean the UK continued to obey some EU rules.

The Committee said another option would be to form a Customs Union with the EU - combined with “continued alignment on relevant EU rules”, which once again would mean the UK continues to obey some rules made in Brussels.

Urging the Government to think again, the MPs warned: “The European Commission has now indicated that the Chequers proposals for a Facilitated Customs Arrangement and a common rulebook are not viable and if this remains the position then the Government will need to adapt its approach to the future EU-UK economic relationship.”

But the report by backbench MPs provoked a row even before it was published, with three hardline Brexiteers on the Committee refusing to sign up to it. They included Tories Jacob Rees-Mogg and Andrea Jenkyns, and DUP MP Sammy Wilson.

Minutes from the Committee show that Mr Rees-Mogg, Ms Jenkyns and Mr Wilson voted against publishing the report, but they were overruled by 13 MPs on the committee who voted to release it.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Alison McGovern said the Jaguar Land Rover decision strengthened the case for a "people's vote" on whether to go ahead with Brexit or not.

She said: "The news that JLR’s Castle Bromwich plant is going on to a three-day week is deeply worrying and is further evidence of how Brexit is already damaging our economy and making life harder and less certain for millions of people."