Embarrassing Brexit breakdown: Why British Prime Minister Sunak now has to drive an Audi
Created: 12/25/2022 2:33 p.m
By: Richard Strobl
Great Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will soon be driving an Audi instead of a Jaguar.
© IMAGO / Paul Marriott
Great Britain's Prime Ministers have driven Jaguars for more than 30 years.
Rishi Sunak now has to switch to Audi - a consequence of Brexit.
London – Great Britain's new prime minister brings a lot of new things to the country's most important political office.
At 42, Rishi Sunak is the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years.
He is also the first Hindu in office.
A supposedly minor innovation is currently an issue in Great Britain: the prime minister's vehicle fleet.
According to a recent report by the Independent
, Rishi Sunak will
be driven to appointments in an armored limousine from the Ingolstadt car manufacturer Audi.
Great Britain's prime minister and the country's top political officials are to get into a chic A8 in the future.
This breaks with a long tradition, because for more than 30 years the British car manufacturer Jaguar has always provided the armored bodies of British top politicians.
But it wasn't Sunak who chose his new car.
The decision was not voluntary.
Embarrassment for Great Britain: Premier now has to drive an Audi
The Metropolitan Police, who are responsible for the prime minister's security, announced in the summer that they would switch from the Jaguar XJ to the Audi A8.
Criticism followed.
But now the Independent
is also reporting
the reason for the decision: According to this, no British car manufacturer was able to meet the safety requirements.
The background is as simple as it is bitter for Great Britain: Brexit is apparently partly to blame for the car misery.
According to the report, the shortage of skilled workers and supply chain problems caused problems for the British auto industry even before leaving the EU.
Brexit and the corona pandemic then made the situation even worse.
According to the Independent
, Labor politician Jonathan Reynolds speaks of a “shattering situation” in the industry
.
According to the report, it was not only Jaguar that was unable to meet the safety regulations for the ministerial limousines.
Also Mini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce and Co could not deliver.
It should be said that the Metropolitan Police Service is required by law to look not only at safety but also at price when procuring the cars.
"Specifically for this tender, at the time of the tender there was no UK OEM capable of meeting the requirements of the tender or producing a similar vehicle specification, therefore no UK manufacturer has bid for the contract," he said
Independent
British officials made a statement.
After all, only the requirements for top officials are not met.
This means that lower-ranking ministers will continue to drive in British-made cars, according to the government.
(rjs)