Last week saw the announcement of the Budget by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
That budget contained announcements on expanding childcare to kids aged over nine months in England (in two years), reducing taxes on the pensions for high earners and plans for increasing the UK's use of nuclear power.
However with Labour riding high in the polls there is a significant possibility there could be a Keir Starmer led government in Westminster come the next election. Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, shadow secretary of state for international trade and Vaughan Gething MS, minister for the economy at the Welsh Government have written the following piece to argue for an industrial strategy where the Welsh Government work "hand in hand" with their counterparts in London.
With his customary sarcasm, Nye Bevan neatly summed up the Conservative failure to mobilise our country’s resources properly - “this island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
We may have moved on from coal, but some things never change. Take the issue of climate change: the UK is an island, with more than our fair share of blustery days, home to many of the world’s leading scientists, businesses and universities. We should be the world leader on climate science innovation, like wind and tidal power. Yet the starting pistol on the global climate technology race fired long ago – and Britain is not leading the pack.
This is what happens when you have a UK government that is literally devoid of an industrial strategy, failing to invest properly in the green energy transition and refusing to work in true partnership with devolved governments.
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This week’s Budget was yet another wasted opportunity for the UK government to grasp the scale of this challenge and set out a compelling growth strategy, with green prosperity at the heart of it. The OBR forecasts that came with it make for more grim reading on trade. There is a huge reduction in UK exports predicted, impacting on jobs and growth.
At the same time, other countries are moving at rapid speed. The USA is investing billions of dollars on the net zero transition through the Inflation Reduction Act, and the European Union is shaping up to respond in kind. While we could let this create tensions and frictions between countries, investment in renewable technologies can be used to help us all providing clean energy and opportunities we could grasp. That’s why we want to work with democratic partners and allies to try to coordinate these actions to maximise their impact, avoid undermining each other’s efforts and protect our economies from the growing influence of authoritarian states.
Here in Wales, under the Conservatives in the 1980s and 1990s, we saw the economic damage caused when governments fail to grasp a vision for the industries of the future. That’s why at the recent Welsh Labour conference, we set out a clear plan to ensure that that cannot be allowed to happen again.
A vital part of that is already underway. Welsh Labour stood on a platform of building a stronger, fairer, greener Wales to great success in 2021 and delivery on that mission continues. The Net Zero Wales strategy is laser focused on reducing emissions with progress in areas like home insulation and help for businesses to decarbonise. A just transition means supporting good jobs with skills fit for the future which is why we just launched a Net Zero Skills Plan, a partnership between business, government, trade unions and educators to ensure the Welsh workforce is ready to take advantage of global opportunities in a net zero Wales.
However, with a challenge the scale of the climate crisis and the opportunities the green transition provides, Wales badly needs a partner in the UK government, not erratic, volatile rival that this Conservative Government represents. That is why a UK Labour Government would work hand-in-hand with Welsh Labour.
At the core of Labour’s Five Missions, outlined recently by Keir Starmer, is the aim of making Britain a clean energy superpower, with zero-carbon electricity by 2030. This is a challenging ambition that will use the catalyst of public investment to drive private investment and secure a massive rollout of renewables, to create jobs, cut bills and boost energy security.
We are committed to establishing a Welsh climate export hub, as part of a UK-wide network. This will work with businesses, universities and other innovators, to take our climate science innovations and export them to the world. When it comes to climate technology, we can either pay to import it, or develop it here and export it to the world, which is what we will work together to achieve.
In Labour, we also recognise that through our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone. That is why we will place a duty on trade negotiators to work in partnership with Welsh Government, building on the ‘Export Action Plan for Wales’ to secure investment and drive exports. We will do the same for the other UK devolved nations and regions, ensuring any trade deals promote the strategies, ambitions and strengths of every part of the country.
Together, we are hugely optimistic about the opportunities this era of rapid change can provide, but that requires governments in Wales and the UK that have a plan to seize them. That’s exactly what the partnership approach we set out at Welsh Labour Conference can deliver – and it’s one we will be campaigning together to deliver with victory at the next General Election.
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