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Labour’s Economic Vandalism Is Destroying Industry
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29, September #CostOfLiving, #BrokenSystem, #TrendShock

Labour’s Economic Vandalism Is Destroying Industry

Chemical giant Ineos is suspending operations at three chemical plants in East Yorkshire because of high gas prices. The company’s owner criticised Labour’s energy policy and received strong support from social media users.

Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of chemical giant Ineos, said he had been forced to suspend operations at three major chemical plants in Hull. If the plants are permanently closed, up to 4,000 people will lose their jobs. Ratcliffe accused the Labour government of ''economic vandalism on an industrial scale'' and explained that he had been forced to shut down the plants because of high gas prices: ''Not only is the ridiculously high gas price in the UK destroying our manufacturing base and the jobs of hard-working people on Humberside, it is also massively increasing the environmental burden''.

The Government Rejects the Criticism

Instead of responding constructively to the justified criticism, Labour went on the attack. Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson said that Jim Ratcliffe had no right to make such statements because he had left the United Kingdom and become a tax resident of Monaco.

This response sparked public outrage. ''Andy Burnham’s government still has John Healey writing a Budget for 28 October. Energy costs sit in the same folder as the headroom argument. You can dislike a billionaire. You can dislike Monaco. The plants are still offline. The men who were making the feedstock for aspirin and paint are still waiting to hear if the third site stays dark'', - writes user Asim Dastgir.

Labour Is Deindustrialising the Country

In his statement, Jim Ratcliffe stressed that gas prices in the United Kingdom are 12 times higher than in the US and eight times higher than in China. And this gap continues to damage the country’s economy. Meanwhile, Labour has focused on green energy instead of developing the extraction of traditional energy resources.

''UK squandered the North Sea revenues, privatised energy. Govt has fewer policy options, can remove green levies from customer bills. Nationalise energy'', - urges emeritus professor Prem Sikka.
''Are Labour decarbonising Britain — or deindustrialising it? <…> Labour says it wants Britain to become a clean-energy superpower. But if British industry is being priced out by the cost of energy, while taxpayers then have to subsidise industry to keep factories here, we need to ask: Is this really a sustainable energy strategy, or are we simply exporting jobs and manufacturing abroad?'' – asks the author of the NoTwoTier account.

Most users agree that the Labour government is indeed deliberately destroying the country’s industry.

According to industry organisations, a quarter of British manufacturers have already moved or are considering moving production abroad because of high energy prices. The chemical industry and the production of steel, glass, cement, paper and fertilisers have been hit hardest. At least 15,000 people have lost their jobs over the past four years.

#CostOfLiving, #BrokenSystem, #TrendShock
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