{"id":27036,"date":"2020-12-11T16:11:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=27036"},"modified":"2020-12-11T16:11:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:11:45","slug":"gigafactory-plans-welcomed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=27036","title":{"rendered":"Gigafactory plans welcomed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Commenting on BritishVolt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announcement today (December 11) that it plans to invest \u00c2\u01412.6bn in an electric vehicle battery plant in Wansbeck, Northumberland, which coincided with a visit by prime minister Boris Johnson, Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite welcomes BritishVolt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potential \u00c2\u01412.6bn investment in Wansbeck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Such an investment could see thousands of skilled jobs created in battery manufacturing and the extended supply chain, which are essential to supporting the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world class automotive industry and its transition to electrification,” he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis could be exactly the kind of stimulus the local economy and the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manufacturing communities need to achieve Britain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s net zero carbon targets. However, Unite is concerned that Boris Johnson has cynically jumped on an announcement by a company that is still far from achieving its stated aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is not lost on us that until last week, BritishVolt were proposing to build this same plant close to St Athan, Wales, with an agreement in place with the Welsh government,” Turner went on to say. “There were also the same shortcomings in investment and lack of a strategic partner with technical and manufacturing expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn September last year, Mr Johnson announced that Ineos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plans to build a 4×4 in Wales \u00e2\u20ac\u0098will deliver hundreds of new jobs in Bridgend and is a vote of confidence in UK expertise, making sure we keep our status as a pioneer in new vehicle technologies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter using the hope Ineos generated to boost his popularity, Mr Johnson was nowhere to be seen when it emerged this week that those jobs have now gone to France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The prime minister is now desperate for some good news to deflect from the devastating impacts of a no deal, particularly on automakers such as Nissan in Sunderland,” he continued. “The fact that Mr Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s visit to Wansbeck was made without informing the constituency MP Ian Lavery, just heightens our concerns the prime minister could be pulling a PR stunt rather than backing a realistic plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe prime minister will not be forgiven if he is piggybacking on fleeting hopes without any strategy or commitment to deliver the finances and support necessary to make the Wansbeck Gigafactory happen. It would be absolutely wicked for the prime minister to play with the hopes and aspirations of people desperate to see secure well-paid jobs return to a region devastated by years of underinvestment and government failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMr Johnson must provide the support and investment necessary for BritishVolt to get the factory up and running. This must be part of an interventionist industrial strategy that sees all elements \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including infrastructure, cell and battery production and vehicle manufacture \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aligned to provide jobs to families and communities that have been so long ignored.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Ryan Fletcher<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commenting on BritishVolt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announcement today (December 11) that it plans to invest \u00c2\u01412.6bn in an electric vehicle battery plant in Wansbeck, Northumberland, which coincided with a visit by prime minister Boris Johnson, Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite welcomes BritishVolt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potential \u00c2\u01412.6bn investment in Wansbeck. “Such an investment could see thousands of skilled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[854,1524,1525],"wps_subtitle":"Unite welcomes BritishVolt plans for a Gigafactory for Wansbeck but warns PM not to play with the hopes and aspirations of people","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27036"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27036"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27038,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27036\/revisions\/27038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}