New freeports funding for UK ‘regions’ coming in Budget – Starmer
Funding for five freeports across ‘the UK’s regions’ and a new East Midlands investment zone will be set out at the Budget, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Prime Minister said the plans would help to drive his Government’s growth agenda, delivering new jobs and investment across different regions of the UK.
The location of the five new freeports will be revealed by Rachel Reeves at the October 30 Budget, and it is understood they will be spread across the UK, not just in England.
Funding for the East Midlands investment zone announced by Sir Keir meanwhile builds on a programme of work started by the previous Tory government.
Green industry
Speaking to broadcasters while attending a Commonwealth summit in Samoa, the Prime Minister said the East Midlands investment zone was “really important” to his drive for economic growth.
“These zones attract investment, and they’re measured in tens of thousands of well paid jobs. So this is really good news,” he said.
Investment zones use public cash to attract private investment to a region, and are focused on attracting specific industries to that area based on a UK-wide strategy.
Funding for two zones based in West Yorkshire and the West Midlands were confirmed by Angela Rayner at Labour’s party conference, after plans for a total of eight were laid out by the last government in the 2023 budget.
The new zone in the East Midlands is set to focus on high tech green industries, and if it follows the blueprints laid out by the Tories will be focussed on Derby, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire.
In total, investment zones in England are estimated to be worth some 89,000 additional jobs by 2033, and a total of £11 billion of private investment.
Tory idea
While the locations of the five new freeports announced by Sir Keir are as of yet unclear, he insisted his Government would not scrap the special economic zones because they were originally a Tory idea.
“I didn’t want to take the sort of ideological view that just because they’re introduced by the last government, we would sort of stand them down,” Sir Keir said.
Freeports have reportedly attracted £2.9 billion of investment, creating an estimated 6,000 jobs.
The Prime Minister did however say he wanted to “make some tweaks” to ensure freeports did bring new investment to UK regions, rather than just move existing money around.
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Doesn’t have to ditch them because Tory idea, ditch them because they wont return for the people there.
Want to benefit the Uk greatly? Rejoin the EU. That will pay back in spades.
Those freeports as originally intended would yield certain tax exemption to those who invested in the zone. Given that the Chancellor is pulling up trees, rolling up carpets and threatening to rummage through everybody’s cupboards to raise taxes, it strikes me as a bit odd that now is the right time for “socialist” Labour to lay out for freebies for corporate investors.
Oh Tut I forgot, they are big buddies. We the public, those with so little “pull” in this game are the mugs who will pay for all this.
Or was it a good Tory idea after all ?
It makes no sense if Brexit is about free trade. If trade is free, aka no tariffs, what’s the point of a freeport?
Another freebie for corporate tax dodgers.
Free-booters, Free loaders, Free wheelers and Privateers all use freeports
see Pirates of the Caribbean…
BVI, Cayman, have you seen paget brown lately I thought he could have made the inquest…
If they only allow one area to benefit from tax breaks that another area can’t there’s two problems. First, it’ll only move existing economic activity around, it won’t encourage new economic activity. Second, doesn’t this conflict with the Internal Market Act?
I’m surprised (though I really shouldn’t be…) that a Labour government is supporting Freeports, considering the bad reputation these have in the past. Who’ll really benefit from these ports? The companies involved and the treasury. Yes, money will be generated but most of it will end up in off shore shareholder bank accounts. Tax will light, that’s the incentive of the Freeport isn’t it? Who’ll be the losers – those at the bottom working there off course. If you really want virtually tariff free trade – err – rejoin the EU?