‘Green port’ can transform region’s economy

PLANS by engineering giant Siemens to develop a ‘green port’ in Hull will create a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform East Yorkshire’s economy, according to former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

Mr Johnson also repeated his warning that some trade union leaders could become the “delusional left” if they continued to challenge Labour leader Ed Miliband’s acceptance of a public sector pay cap and cuts.

Mr Johnson, who is the Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle, made his comments when he attended the Hull and Humber Chamber Annual Dinner at the Mercure Hull West Hotel.

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In his speech to 330 business leaders, Mr Johnson said Hull was on the brink of “momentous times” because of the large number of jobs that could be created through investments in renewable energy.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, he said: “For once, politicians are under-playing this. The prospects here are enormous.

“If you get Siemens in here, you will get the tier one suppliers following and you get a cluster of renewables companies. It’s no exaggeration to say this is like oil to Aberdeen.”

German engineering giant Siemens and Associated British Ports have submitted joint planning applications for a £210m development on Hull’s Alexandra Dock.

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The Siemens development, which would assemble and manufacture offshore wind turbines, would employ 700 highly-skilled engineering workers and potentially support thousands of other jobs in associated industries. The application will be considered in the spring.

Mr Johnson compared the proposed Siemens development to a “musical extravaganza” that will bring an audience for other productions. He said cross-party co-operation was playing a key role in securing investment. He told the audience: “I don’t think there’s any sub-region in this country where MPs work together so well.”

Mr Johnson, who resigned as shadow chancellor last year, made headlines recently when he criticised Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, which is Labour’s biggest donor.

Mr McCluskey had claimed that the Labour party faces electoral disaster if it fails to oppose the Government’s public sector cuts.

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Before his speech, Mr Johnson said: “It was about one union leader, Len McCluskey, who publicly and in my view, very unwisely, and very intemperately, rushed into print to condemn Ed Miliband and Ed Balls (the Shadow Chancellor) for saying what was absolutely clear; that you cannot be a serious party of Government and stand on the platform of ‘no cuts and no job losses, and no reduction in public expenditure’ and expect to win. You have to have credibility. We said if you cut too fast, austerity will stifle growth, and that’s exactly what’s happening. We wouldn’t have done it this (the coalition Government’s) way, but when we’re back in Government in 2015, we cannot say we’ll restore any of those cuts unless we can demonstrate how we pay for it. There’s a section of the left that’s the ‘delusional left’ and they actually believe that with a deficit that’s 11 per cent of GDP you can actually stand on a platform of ‘no cuts, no job losses, no cuts to public expenditure’.

“The world will be different in 2015. Our economy will have shrunk, there won’t be the same ability to spend money on public services that there was before.”

He said the last Labour Government had delivered “very solid achievements” that had boosted the economy and the trade unions, such as the introduction of the minimum wage and investment in the NHS.

He said the business community in Hull was facing a difficult period, with a stagnating economy. But there was cause for hope. He added: “We’ve got this huge prospect if we work together in partnership with Siemens and the whole renewables agenda to really transform the economy here. When people actually come to Hull, they fall in love with the place. The poet Philip Larkin said, ‘It’s on the edge, always facing outwards.’ In five years’ time, this place will be transformed.”