LABOUR have been accused of scoring an “own goal” by announcing the expansion of Heathrow Airport – while failing to come up with a rescue plan for Grangemouth.
Unite, one of the UK’s largest trade unions and a Labour Party funder, has been pressing the Government to transform the Petroineos oil refinery outside Falkirk into a factory making sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
But its calls have gone unheeded, with Labour instead announcing a funding package to help the workers who will lose their jobs find new employment.
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said that Rachel Reeves’s raft of announcements – which include major investment plans in England such as a third runway for Heathrow – were mostly welcome but that the public would be “alarmed by the lack of detail about how it will improve their lives”.
Graham further slammed the UK Government as “either tin-eared or inept” for pledging support for the redevelopment of Old Trafford – while Jim Ratcliffe, joint owner of both Manchester United and Ineos, was “ploughing ahead” with plans to close the Grangemouth refinery.
Graham said: “If the Chancellor is serious about claiming the environmental benefits of SAF as part of her dash for growth and the government’s duty to ensure we have energy security, she will need Grangemouth to start producing SAF ASAP.
“For the Government to support the redevelopment of Old Trafford at the same time as Manchester United’s joint owner billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is ploughing ahead with Grangemouth’s closure plans, is either tin-eared or inept.”
During her speech on Wednesday, Reeves hailed the potential of SAF, saying using it to power planes could cut carbon emissions by 70% compared with normal jet fuel.
Elsewhere, Graham (below) said that the Government’s efforts to boost economic growth – which have been criticised for offering “nothing” for Scotland – must “be linked to cast iron commitments to create well paid, unionised jobs here in the UK”.
She added: “Otherwise, the Government is relying on a trickle-down effect to increase prosperity and workers are left waiting for crumbs from rich men’s tables.
“A third runway at Heathrow must be about more than just infrastructure – it’s about investing in the workforce and securing the future of good, unionised jobs.
“With workers facing economic uncertainty, these projects must deliver real opportunities for highly-skilled, well-paid employment that puts money back into working families and local communities.”
