In a speech to GMB Congress today [Tuesday, 6 June], will put creating quality jobs
at the heart of Labour’s energy plans. Starmer will pledge that
his Labour government will put working people front and centre of
the shift, promising cleaner, safer work, lower bills and better
infrastructure for Britain.
The Labour leader will speak of optimism for the future, saying
that “a tide has turned… the economic argument which has held
back working people is now on the back foot”. Starmer will
say that “…at the next election, the prize is not just to win,
not just to change our country, it’s to put this damaging idea
into the ground – for good”.
Speaking in Brighton, Starmer will say that a Labour government
will harness the technologies and opportunities of the future to
create good, well paid jobs and wrestle back control of Britain’s
energy security.
“The world around us is changing, and changing fast. President
Biden once said, ‘when I hear climate change, I think jobs’. When
Labour sets out its mission for Britain to become a clean energy
superpower next week, we are thinking jobs too.
“Jobs – good, union jobs – will be fundamental to cleaner, safer
work, new and better infrastructure for Britain.
“I won’t pretend that just because a technology is greener that
automatically makes working conditions fairer.
“So, as new nuclear, battery factories and offshore wind repower
Britain, Labour will build strong supply chains that create jobs,
new skills and decent wages here in Britain.
“We will work with you and with industry to seize the
opportunities of hydrogen, carbon capture and storage.
“Our Green Prosperity Plan, like President Biden’s Inflation
Reduction Act, is our plan for growth and because we are Labour
it is also a plan for working people, their jobs and their
prosperity.”
Starmer will say that Britain can’t have fair growth without
secure jobs and a serious industrial strategy
“The Tories simply don’t get that growth comes from working
people and because they don’t understand that fundamental, they
can’t provide the secure foundations to build our country’s
future.
“I’m not even sure they see the problem. If the City of London
races ahead while the rest of Britain stagnates, as long as there
was a hint of growth on his spreadsheet, would think that’s fine. But
it’s not.
“If you leave this many people behind, a nation cannot grow
fairly. We can’t do it with low wages. We can’t do it with
insecure jobs and bad work, with a stand-aside state that doesn’t
fight for the future, without a proper industrial strategy.”
The Labour leader will say that the vast opportunities are on
offer for our great country, for both workers and industry, and
that seizing it will require a government that can shape the
future:
“There is no way to growth in Britain in holding back the future.
But equally, there is no way to growth that doesn’t involve
bending and shaping it.
“We can create a new business model for Britain, one which
creates economic security and grows not just our productivity,
but our hope and our optimism.
“Labour in government will work with unions. We will always see
the fight for working people as our driving purpose.
“So we will strengthen the role of trade unions in our society,
and I want to see Amazon and businesses like it recognise unions.
“Together, we will make Britain work better, give working people
their future back and build a better Britain.”
He will warn that continuing down the same, failed Tory path will
see Britain lag behind international allies on jobs, growth and
energy security:
“Our allies around the democratic world are waking up to the
threat of energy insecurity and the opportunity of economic
security.
“For too long, Britain has allowed the opportunities of the new
energy technologies to pass us by. Without a plan, the energy
industries we rely on will wither and decline.
“The Tories think it’s the market doing its job when British
industry falls behind. It’s not some glitch in their model – it
is the model.”
