Shropshire Star comment: Together we can be stronger

In recent months it has been all doom and gloom as far as JLR is concerned, with job loss announcements and huge losses taking up most of the headlines, which means worrying times for the supply chain across Shropshire.

Hopefully the new new six-cylinder petrol engine will be the start of a new dawn for the automotive giant, which has been hit primarily by the collapse of the Chinese market and a huge drop in diesel sales.

Of course, in some quarters uncertainty over Brexit has also been cited as a contributory factor to the firm’s woes.

And with MPs set to vote on the latest set of amendments to the Prime Minister’s withdrawal deal tonight, it is hoped that the words from the country’s Chambers of Commerce are ringing loudly in their ears.

Much like the rest of the country, business leaders have now reached the point where the national debate on Brexit has become tiresome.

As Corin Crane suggests today, the time has come for Parliament to draw the curtain down on the endless debates and to actually make some decisions instead.

While politicians in the UK continue to pore over the options, and the Prime Minister struggles to get so much as an inch of leeway from an increasingly belligerent EU, businesses of all shapes and size are left twiddling their thumbs and wondering what to do next.

In these troubled times, there is always a danger that we can talk the economy down to such an extent that the problem becomes worse than it already is. The solution put forward by Midlands Engine chairman Sir John Peace makes a great deal of sense.

For this region to weather the storm, it will require strength in numbers.

This means firms from across the Midlands must band together to face head-on whatever economic tremors may come our way in the coming years.

With so much great work already going on across the region, we should always remember that we are stronger together.