HONDA’S plant closure is devastating news for the town, says the former MP who was in post when the car giant previously announced hundreds of job cuts.

Michael Wills, North Swindon MP until 2010, linked the firm’s decision to close the plant by 2021 with Brexit.

He said Swindon’s two current MPs needed to be asking questions of government and ensuring the town gets the right support.

“The news is devastating for the town and I was deeply sorry to learn about it,” Lord Wills said.

The former Labour minister was serving as North Swindon’s MP in 2009, when Honda halted production at its South Marston plant for four months after the credit crunch led to falling car sales.

Around 1,300 workers took voluntary redundancy and 400 more who returned to work were given new roles or training as their old jobs were redundant.

He said: “In 2009 the company made decisions for all sorts of reasons, but the difference between now and then is Brexit.

“The lessons are not only for the town, but the country. This is deeply alarming. Companies have got to get more certainty.

“Businesses can deal with most things, but uncertainty is what they hate most of all.”

Lord Wills added: “Sadly, Honda has made its decision and the focus now has got to be how the town adapts.

“It was very worrying in 2008/09, but there wasn’t the immediate threat of closure.

“The closure of the plant is devastating for Britain. But in 2008/09 we were on the edge of a global depression.”

Now, the world was in a less desperate financial situation. Instead, the problem was a political one for Britain.

The terms of how and when the UK leave the EU were still not clear, he said. “This is a catastrophic failure of government. The country is essentially being held to ransom by a group of ideologically-crazed Conservatives.”

Honda executives were last week adamant that the closure of the Swindon plant was not connected to Brexit, instead citing plunging diesel car sales.

Ian Howells, senior vice-president for Honda in Europe, told the BBC last week: “We’re seeing unprecedented change in the industry on a global scale. We have to move very swiftly to electrification of our vehicles because of demand of our customers and legislation. This is not a Brexit-related issue for us, it’s being made on the global-related changes I’ve spoken about.

Yesterday, Justin Tomlinson, Lord Wills’ successor to the North Swindon parliamentary constituency, said: “Honda was absolutely crystal clear that this was not related to Brexit and simply a reflection of the significant fall in sales.”

Around 3,500 people work at Honda’s South Marston plant, making the Civic model.

Following last Monday’s announcement, government set up a task force aimed at persuading the car giant to stay in Swindon.