Learn US lessons to revive manufacturing and slash energy bills, says union boss
A union chief has urged the Government to learn lessons from America about reviving the manufacturing industry, switching to green power and slashing energy bills.
GMB boss Gary Smith called on ministers to study “reindustrialisation” policies from Joe Biden’s White House.
Mr Smith said: “The American model suggests we can rebuild Britain in a way that reduces energy prices and creates jobs.”
Highlighting how wind turbines generating electricity in the North Sea had been built abroad, he said it was essential for “green jobs” to be on offer in “working class communities” here rather than foreign workers benefiting.
“Britain is a cautionary tale because we have got some of the biggest wind farms in the world and almost no manufacturing and fabrication work,” he said.
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“We have got some of the highest energy bills in the world which is helping drive inflation.
Mr Smith called on the Government to study the White House's policies (Humphrey Nemar)“Ours is a story about declining levels of employment in manufacturing, high energy bills and energy insecurity.”
Mr Smith was speaking to the Mirror from New York during a five-day fact-finding trip that included meetings with top administration officials in Washington DC.
He said the US regime, which has unveiled a $400billion plan, was “writing a different story where the focus is listening to ordinary communities, rebuilding the industrial base, onshoring manufacturing industries and using reindustrialisation to deliver decarbonisation”.
“There is a reorientation in the Biden administration to actually deliver real jobs in communities through reshoring manufacturing industries,” he said.
“The Biden administration is going to make huge tax credits to drive investment in American manufacturing.
“Their starting point is jobs which are going to facilitate lower energy bills and a move to a lower carbon economy.”
He claimed that part of the UK’s progress to meeting a legal requirement to be net-zero by 2050 was fuelled by “closing industry”.
US President Joe Biden (REX/Shutterstock)“We have some of the lowest emissions in the world for an advanced economy because we have closed industry and shipped the jobs to China,” said Mr Smith.
Amid ongoing fears for hundreds of jobs at British Steel and Liberty Steel, he added: “We are closing down the steel industry in the UK.
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“Britain is a lesson in how not to do decarbonisation.”
Mr Smith warned that stripping Britain of its proud industrial heritage could spark a fresh surge in populism.
“Closing down industries, with all the impact it’s having on communities - and now we see it with the steel industry - this is what drives populist politics,” he said.
“If we are going to decarbonise - and we should - people need to see the benefit through lower energy bills and real jobs.”
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