Starmer’s energy ambition: How Labour’s British Jobs Bonus will create jobs and boost investment into Scottish and UK energy heartlands – The Labour Party

Scotland will power Britain’s clean energy future, Keir Starmer pledges today [Friday], as he announces more detail of Labour’s £2.5bn British Jobs Bonus, part of Labour’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, cutting energy bills and making the UK energy secure.

On a visit to Aberdeen to meet with industry and workers, the Labour leader will set out how Labour will drive investment and jobs into historic energy communities across Scotland and the UK, to secure the next generation of high-quality jobs and ensure Scotland is the heart of a clean energy future.

Labour will confirm today that key North Sea industries will be eligible for the British Jobs Bonus, with estimates that the initiative could create 29,000 UK jobs by 2050. Labour’s mission to make the Uk a clean energy superpower will support up to 50,000 jobs in Scotland by 2030.

Labour has already announced that GB Energy, a new publicly-owned company to invest in clean homegrown power and make Britain energy secure, will be headquartered in Scotland.

In last week’s King’s Speech, the Conservatives brought forward legislation for the sector, which industry confirmed was unnecessary and which the Energy Secretary subsequently acknowledged will not cut energy bills for British families. In his response the Labour leader called out this ‘messing around’ as a symptom of a government ‘not even pretending to govern anymore’, and seeing the challenges the country faces as something to be exploited, not solved.

In a tumultuous week in Westminster which has seen the Tories’ flagship policy confirmed illegal against a backdrop of bitter internal fighting, in contrast, Keir Starmer is focusing on delivering jobs and lower bills for British working people. Speaking with energy industry leaders in Aberdeen, he will present his Party’s plans for clean energy as the only credible, pragmatic plans to take the industry forward.

Criticising the ‘abject failure’ of a Conservative Government which has backtracked on net-zero – jeopardising British jobs and undermining UK energy security whilst admitting they will do nothing to cut energy bills – Starmer will meet with workers, unions, investors, business representatives, regulators and sector leaders to set out Labour’s plans to ‘harness Britain’s clean energy future’.

Alongside Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, the Labour leader will add detail to his Party’s landmark British Jobs Bonus, which will crowd in tens of billions of pounds in investment from the private sector by rewarding clean energy developers who invest in good jobs and supply chains in industrial heartlands and energy communities.

Labour confirms today that the bonus will apply to hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and floating offshore wind (FLOW) – three of the core technologies for a jobs-rich transition in the North Sea. The bonuses will come from a £2.5bn fund of catalytic public investment, to crowd in additional billions of private sector investment, to help create thousands of jobs for Scotland’s energy communities.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“The road to making Britain a clean energy superpower, slashing energy bills and creating tens of thousands of quality jobs runs through Scotland and the North Sea.

“This Conservative Party has zero ambition, zero plan and zero concern for the millions of British families suffering sky-high energy bills as a result of the government’s abject failure.

“Every day that they play political games, causing uncertainty and investment risk for the sector, they are costing jobs and hitting people’s pockets. My Labour government will rise above short termist gimmicks, put the country before our party, and deliver the long-term future of our energy industry.

“From establishing GB Energy, our publicly owned energy company headquartered in Scotland, to delivering the most significant investment in Scotland’s ports since privatisation, and securing the future of technologies like CCS, hydrogen, and offshore wind, with Labour, Scotland and the North Sea will power Britain’s clean energy future.

“Only Labour can deliver lower bills, good jobs, and energy security for our country.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

The British Jobs Bonus is one of three major policies that a Labour government will deliver for NE Scotland. 

• A £2.5bn British Jobs Bonus fund to invest in Britain’s energy heartlands, backing clean energy infrastructure in the North Sea including hydrogen, CCS, and floating offshore wind;
• Delivering industrial decarbonisation at Grangemouth, with investment through Labour’s National Wealth Fund;
• The most significant upgrade of Scotland’s port infrastructure since privatisation.

British Jobs Bonus

Labour is today announcing that the British Jobs Bonus will apply to hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and floating offshore wind (FLOW) – three of the core technologies for a jobs-rich transition in the North Sea.

By making this funding available to these technologies, this policy will safeguard future work for Scotland’s oil and gas communities, with independent analysis suggesting that this policy alone will create up thousands of clean power industries in these areas by 2030, building on Labour’s plans to create up to half a million jobs in clean energy across the country.

For example, by incentivising companies to invest in CCS and green hydrogen, the policy will support unlocking the thousands of job opportunities in chemical engineering and pipeline installation, drawing on the vast experience of the Scottish workforce of offshore environments.

By offering catalytic public investment in floating offshore wind technologies, Labour would create thousands of jobs; with early investment, industry estimates suggest 29,000 jobs could be created by 2050, a large number of which would be in Scotland.

Delivering industrial decarbonisation at Grangemouth

A Labour Government will offer catalytic public investment into the decarbonisation of the UK’s major industrial hubs, including Grangemouth in Scotland.

Investment of up to £1bn through Labour’s National Wealth Fund will see the acceleration of net zero heavy industry at Grangemouth. By fast-tracking investment in technologies that can help heavy industry to decarbonise, such as CCS and green hydrogen, Labour’s plans will safeguard existing jobs in heavy industry and create new ones in low-carbon industries of the future.

Jobs methodology:

• Across the UK Labour’s clean power plan will support up 50,000 jobs in Scotland by 2030. (Source)

Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan

A Labour Government will:

• Act fast to make Britain a clean energy superpower, leading the world with 100% clean power by 2030
• Establish Great British Energy, a new home-grown, publicly-owned national champion in clean power generation.
• Create a National Wealth Fund to build British industry and ensure the British people will benefit from the long-term return that investments produce, with investments in gigafactories, clean steel plants, renewable-ready ports, green hydrogen and energy storage.
• Upgrade =millions of cold, draughty homes so that families have cheaper energy bills and warm, future-proofed homes.