PANICKED Ministers could subsidise factory energy bills amid a warning that sky-high costs could lead to job losses in key Labour seats.
A multi-billion pound package paid for by taxpayers for manufacturers will help make them more competitive with overseas competitors.
Lord Elliott said: ‘The government must act to lower energy prices in order to protect jobs and secure Britain’s industrial future’[/caption]
The intervention will be a key plank in the government’s ten-year industrial strategy unveiled next week as Ministers try to boost the UK’s sluggish growth.
Industries such as ceramics, steel, glass and chemicals will be eligible for standing charges dropping by some 90 per cent saving hundreds of millions of pounds.
But Ministers are also expected to launch a consultation on extending support to areas such as AI databases and manufacturing helping thousands of firms.
It comes as a new report says soaring energy costs are putting thousands of jobs at risk triggering a key election issue in battleground seats.
Analysis by the Jobs Foundation reveals 21 out of 25 constituencies most reliant on jobs in energy-intensive industries are Labour seats.
Several top Ministers including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Defence Secretary John Healey could be at risk to losing their seats to Reform without action.
Current polling reveals that 15 out of the 21 seats would be lost to Nigel Farage’s party if an election were held today.
The study finds that UK industrial energy prices are some 46 per cent above the average of competitor nations – putting firms here at a major disadvantage.
Lord Matthew Elliott, President of the Jobs Foundation, said: “We must avoid repeating the mistakes of the 1980s, when the unmanaged decline of coal devastated entire communities.
“Today’s energy-intensive industries – steel, chemicals, glass, ceramics – are facing a similar fate.
“The government must act to lower energy prices in order to protect jobs and secure Britain’s industrial future.”
The warning shot comes after Manchester United co-owner and entrepreneur Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who founded chemicals giant Ineos, said the high prices were “squeezing the life out of the sector”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves told a CBI event that making energy more affordable is “one of the questions that we need to answer”.
The government declined to comment.
Panicked Ministers could subsidise factory energy bills amid a warning that sky-high costs could lead to job losses in key Labour seats[/caption]
Source link
