A Government attempt to reboot the UK car industry after a blizzard of bad news has stalled due to the turmoil in Westminster surrounding Brexit.

Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, was set to appear at a ground-breaking ceremony of a new battery facility ­today but has cancelled as the Government becomes increasingly rudderless.

Mr Clark was expected to attend the event at the site of the £80m UK Battery Industrialisation Centre near Coventry, in Britain’s automotive heartland. Part of the Industrial Strategy, UKBIC is intended to position Britain at the forefront of battery technology for the car sector.

But the ceremony – and an expected announcement about investment into the car industry – was abandoned ­because of what one industry source called “Brexit developments”, which had resulted in the Business Secretary having to remain in Westminster.

Ian Henry, of AutoAnalysis, said: “This is indicative of the political mess we are in with Brexit getting in the way of the Government trying to rescue the last vestiges of the automotive elements of its industrial strategy.”

The initiative would have built on a rare piece of good news after Toyota said its UK plants will build a new model for Suzuki. The company’s factory near Derby will make a Suzuki-badged version of its Corolla estate, powered by hybrid engines that will be assembled at Toyota’s Deeside plant.