Starmer: need to save the car of the UK
Following the failure of British Volt, the country’s largest project to develop electric car batteries, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says a strategic plan is required to save the UK car sector.
Sir Keir stated a five or ten-year strategy was needed “and not the type of instability we’ve had the last year.”
He spoke to the BBC from Davos, Switzerland, during the annual World Economic Forum.
He told business leaders that the UK “desperately” needs to change.
“We went through three prime ministers in 2022… They do not provide the assurance and stability required for investment in the United Kingdom, “He stated.
Sir Keir was in Davos with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, meeting business leaders, including top European financiers from Bank of America, Lloyds, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock, whom JP Morgan hosted.
Labor seeks to reverse what Sir Keir dubbed the Conservative government’s “huge drop” in foreign investment.
The meeting with the Labour team piqued the interest of several long-term investors in energy and finance. Sir Keir and Ms. Reeves were promoting their “Green Prosperity Plan,” which was accompanied by major US initiatives to subsidize low-carbon industries and energy.
The EU has expressed its displeasure with the US plan. Sir Keir, in reaction, has proposed a “clean power alliance” of countries to push down the cost of renewables, acting as the “inverse of OPEC,” the oil cartel that drives up costs.
He denied that the Labour team was talking down Britain, stating, “we are flying the flag; we are ambassadors for UK PLC and quite glad to do so with a very strong message.”
Closer relationship
Labour has been careful about commenting on Brexit, but he said former prime minister Boris Johnson’s agreement was “not a good deal.” “You can see the impact it has,” he added.
However, he stated that aiding the automobile industry did not mean re-entering the European Union’s single market.
‘I’m discussing the possibility of a closer trading connection. But this is not a debate in which you must be a member of the EU,” he explained.
“Can we establish a closer commercial relationship? Yes, I believe we can.
“With trust and confidence on both sides, we can make significant strides in breaking down some of those trade barriers by collaborating on research and innovation,” he said.
Sir Keir stated that the Labour Party was “a million miles away” from the low-standards approach advocat by the Conservatives.
