During a visit to British Steel in North Lincolnshire, the Labour
leader, will today (Thursday) commit a
Labour government to invest alongside the steel industry in the
latest green technologies and innovation.
Asserting that under the Tories ‘the UK is becoming a passive
bystander in a global race for the jobs and industries of the
future,’ Starmer will outline his party’s long-term plan to drive
innovation in the sector. Labour will match-funded investments in
technologies including in hydrogen and electric arc furnace
technology, ‘to secure this vital UK industry, rebuild our
industrial strength, and turbocharge an expansion of skilled
jobs.”
Labour’s plans for cheap, clean home-grown power will also drive
the long-term competitiveness for UK steel, driving down the
costs that have blighted the competitiveness of British firms
compared to European peers like France and Germany. The party
says plans to boost generation of offshore wind, solar,
nuclear, hydrogen will generate demands for millions of tonnes of
UK steel.
Starmer has slammed the government’s failure to secure the
long-term future of UK steel, asserting that ‘the Tories’ lack of
industrial strategy has left the sector in a vicious cycle of
crisis and bailout.’ 11,000 jobs have been list from energy
intensive industries since 2015. Labour compares the Conservative
government’s inaction with competitors like France, Germany and
the US race, who are leading the global race for green steel
jobs, with long-term programs of investment and support.
Labour’s investment plan for UK steel will be underpinned by an
industrial strategy, which the Labour leader asserts as
‘providing the long term stability and certainty that business
and industry are crying out for.’ Labour’s industrial strategy
outlines the importance of strategic sovereign capabilities like
steel that are vital for national economic resilience and key
supply chains.
Outlining Labour’s plan for the steel sector, said:
“Steel is integral to a modern economy, and my Labour government
will back it, secure it, and grow it, creating high paying,
productive jobs in communities all over the country, for
generations.
“Through our Green Prosperity Plan, we will invest alongside
industry in technology and innovation, as well as
increasing demand for UK steel from our plan to build
turbines, railways, and carbon capture
infrastructure.
“In the last 13 years the Tories’ complacency and inaction has
led to a self-defeating cycle of crisis and bailout, failing
workers, industry, and the taxpayer.
“Securing investment in steel will create a virtuous circle of
cheaper infrastructure, jobs, thriving industry, and economic
growth. Labour will get on with it.”
has accused the Prime Minister
of acting like a ‘passive bystander’ when it comes to securing
international investment in industries like steel that can
support business and secure jobs here in the UK.
Commenting on Rishi Sunak’s visit to the USA, Starmer
said:
“The Prime Minister is impotently asking the President to open up
to UK business, but those asks aren’t underpinned by any sense of
a plan for UK industry.
“The United States’ ground-breaking legislation has created more
jobs in seven months than the UK has in seven years. The
Conservative response is to criticise it from the side lines,
then ask for a piece of the pie, woefully exposing their lack of
plan.
“The UK is becoming a passive bystander in a global race for the
jobs and industries of the future. Labour will pull all levers
needed to drive forward jobs and growth in Britain. We’ll invest
to rebuild Britain’s industrial strength. We’ll harness the
ambition and hunger of British business, the skills and talents
of our workers, and create tens of thousands of high skilled
jobs, growing vibrant economies in all parts of the UK.
“The Tories aren’t on the pitch, leaving Britain in the changing
room.”
Ends
Notes:
1. As part of our Green
Prosperity Plan, our National Wealth fund will invest alongside
business in a long-term programme to drive innovation in the
sector, including hydrogen and electric arc furnace technology.
Labour’s National Wealth Fund will invest £3 billion to
match-fund innovation programmes across clean steel projects.
2. Labour has criticised the
Tories for failing to deliver on the 2019 manifesto promise to
get a US trade deal by the end of 2022.
3. Labour Party figures show
that the UK has a persistent gap in investment with the US –
worth more than 3 per cent of GDP on average over the last three
years – equivalent to £75bn
4. UK manufacturing production
fell by 3.7% last year, in the USA it rose by 2.8%.
5. Labour’s industrial
strategy identified key strategic sectors like steel – ‘sovereign
capabilities.’
https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Industrial-Strategy.pdf
6. Rishi Sunak’s lack of industrial
strategy attacked by former business secretaries | Financial
Times (ft.com)
