Keir Starmer seeks to soothe trade union tensions with green jobs vow

05 June 2023 , 21:30

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Keir Starmer talks to workers during a visit to Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset (Image: PA)

Keir Starmer will vow to put creating decent green jobs at the heart of Labour's energy policy as he seeks to smooth growing tensions with unions.

The Labour leader will pledge to "seize the opportunities of hydrogen, carbon capture and storage" to fire up the economy in a speech to the GMB Congress.

Mr Starmer set himself at odds with the GMB union with a plan to block new North Sea oil and gas developments to transition to renewable energy.

But yesterday, GMB General Secretary Gary Smith insisted the industry needed “plans not bans” - and said it would create a "cliff edge" that will hit jobs.

Unite's Sharon Graham has also said Labour must be "very clear that they will not let workers pay the price" for the move to renewable energy.

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Addressing the union's conference, Mr Starmer will seek to calm tensions by saying: “The world around us is changing, and changing fast. President Biden once said, ‘when I hear climate change, I think jobs’.

General Secretary of the GMB union Gary Smith said the industry needed “plans not bans” (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

"When Labour sets out its mission for Britain to become a clean energy superpower next week, we are thinking jobs too.

"Jobs – good, union jobs – will be fundamental to cleaner, safer work, new and better infrastructure for Britain.

"I won't pretend that just because a technology is greener that automatically makes working conditions fairer.

"So, as new nuclear, battery factories and offshore wind repower Britain, Labour will build strong supply chains that create jobs, new skills and decent wages here in Britain."

But he will insist that Britain has failed to get a grip on new opportunities - and "without a plan, the energy industries we rely on will wither and decline."

More than 140 civil society groups, including Friends of the Earth, the RSPB, Christian Aid and the University of Sussex have written to Labour to praise plans to halt North Sea oil and gas production.

But Mr Smith, whose union is a key Labour donor, urged Mr Starmer not to "put all the nation's eggs in one energy basket".

“We have to fix and secure our energy supply if we are to face down threats from authoritarian regimes in the world and find a workable way to achieve net-zero," he said.

“But, our future requires a mix of energy sources – new nuclear, renewables, hydrogen, and oil and gas.

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“It would be a huge mistake to put all the nation’s eggs in one energy basket."

Labour is expected to set out more details of its green energy plans next week as part of Mr Starmer's five "missions" for Government.

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Lizzy Buchan