Labour will today (Tuesday 10 November) challenge the government
to ‘Build it in Britain’ and support the creation of 400,000
jobs, including in the crucial manufacturing sector, through a
green recovery from the Covid crisis.
Ahead of this month’s Comprehensive Spending Review, Labour is
calling for an economic recovery that will deliver high-skilled
jobs in every part of the UK as part of the drive towards a clean
economy. It is also calling for the low-carbon infrastructure of
the future to be built in Britain.
Labour’s calls follow an extensive consultation with businesses,
trade unions and other stakeholders around what a credible green
recovery should look like, which received almost 2,000 responses.
The consultation indicated that the Government must:
-
Recover Jobs
By bringing forward planned
capital investment and dedicating it to low-carbon sectors – at
least £30billion in the next 18 months - as part of a rapid
stimulus package to support up to an estimated 400,000
additional jobs.
-
Retrain Workers
By putting in place an emergency training programme to equip
people affected by the unemployment crisis with the skills they
need for the future greener economy.
-
Rebuild business
By creating a National
Investment Bank similar to those operating in other countries,
focused on green investment, and by ensuring that public
investment always aids the drive to net-zero rather than
hindering it.
The consultation report details a number of areas where progress
has so far been limited in the UK, but where action now would
support the creation of new jobs and tackle the climate and
environmental crisis. They include:
- Investing in upgrading ports and shipyards for offshore wind
supply chains.
- Expanding investment in Carbon Capture and Storage and
hydrogen to help establish new opportunities for highly-skilled
workers.
- Accelerating planned investment in electric vehicle charging
infrastructure and ensuring the planning system better supports
electric vehicle charging.
- Bringing forward orders for electric buses to help struggling
manufacturers fill their order books.
- Introducing a National Nature Service, an employment
programme to focus on nature conservation projects.
- Expanding energy efficiency and retrofit programmes,
including in social housing.
- Ensuring that updated Sector Deals for sectors like
automotive, steel and aerospace protect jobs and promote the
shift to net zero.
- Bringing forward flooding protection investment, prioritising
areas of need across the North West, Yorkshire and the East
Midlands.
These should be delivered within a wider strategy that also meets
the UK’s overall infrastructure needs at the upcoming Spending
Review.
MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy, said:
“We face a jobs emergency and a climate emergency. It's time for
a bold and ambitious plan to deliver hundreds of thousands of
jobs which can also tackle the climate crisis.
"This is the right thing to do for so many people who are facing
unemployment, the right thing to do for our economy to get a lead
in the industries of the future and the right thing to do to
build a better quality of life for people in our country.
“As other countries lead the way with a green recovery, Britain
is hesitating. It's time to end the dither and inaction, and
start delivering now. It is what the British people deserve and
what the crises we face demand."
, Shadow
Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
“Labour is ambitious for Britain. We can harness the
opportunities for green growth if the Government takes the right
decisions now.
“In recent years, and particularly during this crisis, our
country has fallen behind in the drive to a cleaner, greener
economy. We’ve seen far more rhetoric than action - and that has
cost our country jobs.
“Future generations will judge us by the choices we make today to
tackle the unemployment crisis and face up to the realities of
the climate emergency.
“That’s why we need coordinated action to support 400,000 jobs of
the future today, not tomorrow. Now’s the time to build it in
Britain.”
