Britain can’t afford to keep Ed Miliband in office any longer
Our industrial base is being laid to waste by this Labour Government
It is a bigger market. It is more dynamic. Everyone speaks (almost) the same language. And the business culture is very similar. British companies have always seen the United States as a natural place to expand. But the decision by Sir Jim Ratcliffe to refocus his Ineos empire in the US is something we have never seen before.
It is not so much about expanding overseas as giving up on a country where punishing green policies have made it almost impossible to operate an energy company. In reality Britain can’t afford to keep the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in office for a day longer – because Sir Jim won’t be the last to leave.
Ineos has already closed its Grangemouth plant in Scotland, even though it has been operating successfully for more than a hundred years. Now it has decided to pull all its investments out of the UK and the North Sea and focus completely on the US instead. “The problem is that the UK has become one of the most unstable fiscal regimes in the world from a perspective of natural resources and energy”, according to Brian Gilvary, the head of the company’s energy division. “It means we cannot invest with any certainty because we can’t be sure what future tax rates will be.”
It is hard to blame the company for that decision. Windfall taxes on North Sea oil and gas production have risen to 38 per cent; this brings the headline tax rate on oil and gas activities to 78 per cent. In effect private companies take all the risk, and put up all capital, for a new project but the Government confiscates most of any profit they might make. The Green Commissars around Ed Miliband have pushed up industrial electricity prices in Britain so much that it is now 50 per cent higher than in France and four times the level of the US.
They have heaped green levies on top of costs that have already spiralled out of control. And of course in the Budget taxes will be raised even further. The real surprise is not that companies are leaving. It is that they have not already gone.
Miliband may not care about that. He might even be glad to see the back of Ineos. The trouble is, there are two big problems. First the “well paid green jobs” that Miliband promised don’t seem to have materialised. If we were replacing our traditional energy and chemical industries with more competitive “green” ones that might be a good trade. But we aren’t. We are simply closing down our existing businesses, and switching to importing everything we need instead. It is a process of deindustrialization, and it is accelerating rapidly, with catastrophic consequences for tax revenues, jobs and the balance of payments.
Next, all the companies that are quitting won’t return any time soon. Even if we change policies – and there is absolutely no sign of it so far – it will prove too late. Once a company has committed to the US, or the Gulf, or Asia, it has gone for good. All its capital will be tied up in its new market, and it will be years before its executives will trust the UK again.
The Telegraph: continue reading
See Related Article Below
Starmer “Tried to Sack Ed Miliband From Net Zero Brief But He Refused to Go”
Keir Starmer tried to sack Ed Miliband from his Net Zero brief in the reshuffle amid worries about economic growth, but he refused to budge, it was claimed today. Downing Street did not deny it when asked. The Mail has the story.
The PM is said to have asked Mr Miliband to take over Angela Rayner’s Housing Department as he reshaped his team on Friday.
However, Mr Miliband refused – insisting he wanted to keep overseeing the climate drive.
Sir Keir has pledged a new focus on growth as he tries to get the government back on track amid dire polls.
The premier looks to be tacking to the right with his appointments amid the mounting threat from Nigel Farage and Reform.
Insiders have acknowledged that the Net Zero drive has been holding back activity, while businesses are hoping that reforms to workers’ rights could be delayed or watered down.
New Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden is also set to launch another bid to trim the spiralling benefits bill – after the last effort was humiliatingly killed off by Labour MPs.
Downing Street said the PM is “delighted” that Mr Miliband will continue to lead the Energy Department, but did not deny Sir Keir had initially suggested moving him.
Sir Keir is facing rising concern on his own benches about the government’s performance. Emily Thornberry – a potential deputy leader candidate – has warned that the PM must stop making “mistakes”.
But Labour’s Left is gearing up for battle over issues like the overhaul of strike rules and employment rights. Ms Rayner had championed the overhaul, but firms are hoping for a change in direction after her departure.
Worth reading in full.
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