Lord Jones offers services as West Midlands’ foreign trade ambassador

BUSINESS figurehead Lord Jones of Birmingham has offered his services as a special foreign trade envoy to the new West Midlands Combined Authority.

The offer is dependent on Andy Street winning the inaugural Mayoral election next May.

In a statement backing Mr Street’s candidacy for the new position, Lord Jones said he had given a firm commitment to help the region in whatever way he could.

This could be in an unpaid, part-time Ambassadorial role “spreading the word that the region is ‘ready and open for business’ whether in Whitehall, Westminster, Dubai, Shanghai or Mumbai”.

Lord Jones said he was adamant that every voter should welcome a business-attuned Mayor such as Mr Street.

He said his opinion stemmed from the fact that businesses employed millions of people in the region, produced the profits which generated the taxation which in turn, paid for schools, hospitals and other vital services.

He said if there were no successful businesses then there could be no job creation or other public services which people took for granted.

He said he could only make this offered provided Mr Street was elected to the post.

Ironically, as a man who served as a Trade Minister in a Labour government, he said he could not advocate pursuing such a role under a Labour mayor.

Mr Street is widely expected to be appointed as the Conservative’s candidate for the election.

The party votes on September 29 for its candidate, who will then be officially unveiled at the party conference in Birmingham at the beginning of October.