Keir Starmer will set out plans to boost jobs for welders, electricians and engineers as he addresses a major summit today.
The PM will announce £300million in funding will be fast-tracked through Great British Energy to invest in clean energy projects. The government said the cash for the UK’s offshore wind industry will also help workers and firms and Britain’s industrial heartlands.
Mr Starmer said: “Delivering the plan for change means winning the race for the clean energy jobs of the future, which will drive growth and help us reach clean power by 2030.
“That is why I am bringing forward much-needed investment in our domestic offshore wind supply chains, strengthening our security and creating good jobs for our welders, electricians, and engineers. Let my message to the world go out: come and build the clean energy future in Britain.”
It is part of a push to encourage developers and investors to invest in clean energy in the UK and comes as the PM – alongside Energy Secretary Ed Miliband – open a two-day summit in London today on energy security.
Mr Miliband added: “It is only by taking back control of our energy that we can protect families and businesses from the rollercoaster of global markets we don’t control. That is why this Government is doubling down on our clean energy superpower mission – driving economic growth, good jobs and investment across our country.”
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TUC Assistant General Secretary Kate Bell said: “This is an important step forward. As chaos grips global trade, we need strong domestic supply chains delivering good quality jobs, and energy independence – here in the UK. This is good news for workers, for energy consumers and for the country.”
On Thursday it also emerged Mr Miliband will introduce a change to Great British Energy to ensure it does not use materials linked to Chinese slave labour. An amendment to legislation setting up the publicly owned energy company will ensure solar panels do not contain materials suspected of being produced through forced labour.
No10 said it was confident the change will not slow down the race to making Britain a clean energy superpower by the end of the decade. “We remain confident as we always have done in our sprint to clean power by 2030,” the PM’s official spokesman said.
Luke de Pulford, the executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, had earlier warned that the use of slave labour extends throughout the renewable energy sector. He told the BBC : “Unfortunately, there’s a problem right the way throughout the renewables sector with state-imposed forced labour in China.
“They have labour transfer schemes where the Government conscripts, very often ethnic minorities, and forces them to work against their will, and sadly, many such workers are placed within the renewable industry in China.”
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