Green jobs ‘can break UK’s decline’

INVESTING in green industries will help break the “cycle of decline” facing the UK, but there has to be a fundamental change of direction from the Government, a union leader will say today.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary designate of the TUC, will tell a conference, attended by Business Secretary Vince Cable, that the country was “crying out” for good green jobs.

The green economy was now worth £122bn, almost a tenth of total UK output, sustaining nearly one million jobs, she will say.

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“We want investment not cuts, so that we reverse the scandalous funding shortfalls that will see 16,000 jobs lost in the home insulation industry and 20,000 at risk in the solar industry following changes to the feed-in tariff.

“We want a properly capitalised Green Investment Bank, not the pale imitation we have now, which is able to raise funds on the capital markets to invest in the green capacity Britain needs in the coming decades.

“And we want a smart, active green industrial strategy that provides us with a clear route map showing how we get from where we are now to where we want to be in 10 or 20 years’ time.”

Some of those in government were committed to economic and environmental renewal, but others were climate change deniers, said Ms O’Grady, who will call on the Government to change direction.

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