Ed Miliband responds to Government's plans for post-Brexit state aid scheme

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, responding to the Government’s plans for post-Brexit state aid scheme, said:

"Labour is in favour of a subsidy system which backs Britain's businesses. We will look at the details of this legislation. But it must be backed by a strong industrial strategy, which is currently missing.

"During the crisis, we have seen the Government's unwillingness to support Britain's industries play out. They failed to bring forward sectoral help for key industries while wasting money on crony contracts.

"Today we are expecting a major test of the Government's promise to champion British industry post-Brexit with the decision due about whether to remove steel import safeguards. Failure to maintain these safeguards would be a betrayal of Britain's steel industry, a betrayal of communities across the country, and a self-defeating hammer blow to our national interest."

Ends

Notes to Editors

• UK unveils post-Brexit state aid scheme to support industry | Financial Times (ft.com)
• Under the Conservatives, the UK has consistently underspent on state aid compared to other EU countries. For example, in 2019 the UK spent just 0.38% of GDP on state aid; far lower than Germany (1.45%), Hungary (1.82%) and Denmark (1.55)- and the 7^thlowest in the EU. https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/comp/redisstat/databrowser/view/AID_SCB_OBJ/default/map?category=AID_SCB_OBJ [UK state aid spend has also consistently been well below the EU average since 2000- see pg. 14 https://www.ippr.org/files/2019-01/1548088552_brexit-state-aid-jan19.pdf)]