It was a real pleasure to help deliver a brilliant event in Westminster with Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South, and Chambers of Commerce for Suffolk and Norfolk, last week.
The focus of the meeting was Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan, and it provided a chance for our region’s businesses to meet senior Labour figures to discuss the Party’s proposals, as well as the opportunities and challenges that we are facing in our two counties.
Companies like Frugalpac, Maritime Transport, ABP, Sizewell C, Roadfill and Anglia Charging all demonstrated the breadth of activity that is already happening here, but there is even more we can achieve, and need far better support from decision makers in Westminster if we are to truly reap the rewards on offer.
I view the Green Prosperity Plan as the vehicle through which our Party will turn our country’s economy around. After years of flatlining growth, a lack of long-term planning, and an indifferent attitude towards businesses, skills and employment, it is time for a change so we can start fulfilling our potential.
However, the window of opportunity is closing, with nations around the world racing ahead of us while the Conservatives dither, tinkering around the edges, and shackling Britain’s progress.
I know from talking to businesses every day how frustrated they are. After years of upheaval and warm words they are desperate for stability and delivery.
That is why Labour has committed to strategic, responsible public investment; working in partnership with businesses; providing the catalyst for new industries; and creating the jobs of the future. This will get our economy back on track, giving businesses confidence to invest in its workforce and its operations, as well as delivering real energy security and cutting energy bills.
The energy transition is more than an environmental imperative, it is an economic one too, and, as I have said before, if a Labour Government looks to make Britain a clean energy superpower, I want Suffolk to be its beating heart.
However, this is about more than the energy transition. This is also about making a range of industries more sustainable, about how we can future-proof our businesses and the jobs that they create, about how we can invest and plan for the long-term, moving away from the sticking plaster approach that has hampered our region, and our country, for so many years.
We don’t need to spend billions to have this transformational effect - there are schemes which could be delivered quickly and cost-effectively.
Take the upgrades to the Haughley Junction, for example. At £20m, this is a relatively modestly priced scheme which could relieve major bottlenecks and allow more passenger and freight trains to run. To many it would seem like a no-brainer, but the proposals have been floating around for a decade with no movement.
The rollout of 5G infrastructure is another pressing issue, but progress has been sluggish so far.
These were messages strongly conveyed to the host of Shadow Ministers in attendance, and it is clear the Labour Party is taking our region seriously.
Ed Miliband, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Darren Jones, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, both gave impressive speeches about the importance of the East of England, not only to the energy transition, but to our country’s economy as a whole.
Alongside my fellow candidates from Suffolk and Norfolk, I am determined that, should our Party win the next General Election, our counties finally receive our fair share of investment and attention from Westminster.
After years of neglect, it is the East’s time to shine.
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