| Fund independent journalism with £5 per month |
|
| 
 |
As budget week begins, the British government has announced a new investment package to help make the UK “a world leader in manufacturing”.
Worth a combined £360m from government and industry, the funding will support R&D and manufacturing projects in sectors where the UK is, or could be, world-leading, by unlocking investment from the private sector. It includes almost £200m for aerospace R&D projects, to develop energy-efficient and zero-carbon aircraft tech needed to achieve net zero aviation.
There’s also £73m of joint funding for “cutting-edge automotive R&D projects” for electric vehicle technology, to make them more efficient and competitive. [This comes six months after prime minister Rishi Sunak’s green u-turn, when he delayed banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years to 2035].
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt. says the money will help secure jobs and grow the economy: “We’re sticking with our plan by backing the industries of the future with millions of pounds of investment to make the UK a world leader in manufacturing, securing the highly skilled jobs of the future and delivering the long-term change our country needs to deliver a brighter future for Britain.”
The economy certainly needs more investment; last summer, the IPPR thinktank warned that the UK is bottom of G7 league table for business investment, leaving the country in a growth 'doom loop'. Back in the autumn statement last November, the UK announced £4.5bn to increase investment in strategic manufacturing sectors – auto, aero, life sciences and clean energy.
But Labour’s shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, isn’t impressed by today’s announcement; he says the government is “incapable of providing the long-term stability manufacturing needs to thrive”.
Reynolds added: “Recycled announcements won’t be enough to turn around the lowest business investment in the G7.”
The funding announcement comes as Hunt puts the finishing touches to Wednesday’s budget, with Tory MPs pushing the chancellor to produce some voter-pleasing tax cuts. But is 1p, or more, off income tax really what people want, given the state of UK public services? An opinion poll of almost 5,000 people across Britain released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) this morning shows almost three-quarters were “very worried” or “fairly worried” about funding for the NHS and other public services, compared with less than half who were concerned about tax on earnings.
JRF is warning Hunt that his budget risks condemning Britain to a second “lost decade” for living standards. Hunt himself said yesterday he wants to move Britain towards becoming a lower-tax economy, “as and when we can afford it”….
In other good news for investment, Siemens plans to invest £100m in a new centre for manufacturing in Wiltshire. The global tech company will use the money to replace its factory in Chippenham, with the new facility on the site expected to be completed by 2026.
The current Chippenham plant is the country’s only factory dedicated to developing rail signalling and control systems, and manufactured the signalling technology being used on the Elizabeth line. It has also been a key site for the development of rail tech since the Victorian times. Its workload includes providing new digital signalling equipment to modernise the east coast main line from London to Edinburgh.
The agenda
• 8am – Spanish unemployment data
We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ... |
| | | … there is a good reason why not to support the Guardian | | Not everyone can afford to pay for news right now. That is why we keep our journalism open for everyone to read. If this is you, please continue to read for free.
But if you are able to, then there are three good reasons to support us today. | | 1 | Our quality, investigative journalism is a powerful force for scrutiny at a time when the rich and powerful are getting away with more and more |
| | 2 | We are independent and have no billionaire owner telling us what to report, so your money directly powers our reporting |
| | 3 | It doesn’t cost much, and takes less time than it took to read this message |
| | Help power the Guardian’s journalism in this crucial year of news, whether with a small sum or a larger one. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis from just £2. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you're making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you. | | |
|
|
| | |
|
| Manage your emails | Unsubscribe | Trouble viewing? | | You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Business Today. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396 |
|
|
|
|
|
Hunt will try to talk a long game while scrambling to fund tax cuts 
For years, the Tories said austerity was over. But look around: it’s getting worse, and there’s more to come 
