The Labour Party has pledged to ‘Build it in Britain’ and support 400,000 new jobs as part of the drive towards a clean economy
Labour has challenged the government’s ‘build, build, build’ promise, as it outlines the ‘Build it in Britain’ pledge.
This will 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 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 £30bn 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.
Support new jobs and tackle the climate crisis
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.
‘It’s time for a bold and ambitious plan’
Ed Miliband, 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.”
Anneliese Dodds, shadow chancellor of the exchequer, commented: “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.”
Industry response
Steven Charlton, principal and managing director at Perkins&Will, said: “We’re pleased to see a focus on retrofit programmes within Labour’s recommendations to create jobs and support a green recovery.
“However, since the built environment as a whole is responsible for 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions, we cannot forget office buildings and commercial spaces, the construction and retrofitting of which have just as much impact on the environment as residential and social housing.
“The right legislation needs to be put in place to ensure the retrofit programmes include continuous use of resource, circular design principles and supply chain engagement.
“This way we will ‘Build it in Britain’ better and be a world-leader in delivering net-zero projects from cradle to grave.”
Dave Sheridan, executive chairman at ilke Homes, added: “Labour’s call to bring forward capital investment to retrofit the country’s inefficient housing stock is welcome.
“British homes account for 20% of the UK’s carbon footprint meaning action is needed now to improve their energy efficiency.
“However, Government must also focus attention on new homes, to prioritise investment that supports the industry to build to a zero-carbon standard now, and avoid the costly mistakes of the past by allowing homes to be built that need to be expensively retrofitted with low-carbon technology later down the line.
“This means focusing investment on scaling up technologies to help new-build homes become less carbon-emitting. Air source heat pumps (ASHP) that absorb heat from the outside to heat a home and provide hot water, for example, emit 12 times less carbon dioxide that modern gas boilers and will be vital if the UK is to meet net-zero targets by 2050.
“Other low-carbon technology can also help reduce housing’s reliance on fossil fuel-powered energy, such as solar panels.
“Government investment must be targeted to ensure the supply chains developing and manufacturing these low-carbon technologies have the required production capacity to meet growing demand, and that starts with making sure the skills base exists.”
