Ed Miliband urges £60m ports fund go-ahead

Ed Miliband, the Shadow Energy Secretary, has already raised the case with Ministers and warns it is "very, very important" that the Government goes ahead with the scheme.

A fierce contest is under way among British ports to attract major firms wanting to manufacture thousands of turbines for offshore wind farms, one of which will be off Hornsea.

There is the potential for thousands of jobs, but as well as competing against other regions of the UK, experts fear ports on the north and south banks of the Humber could see firms turn their attention to the continent if the Government fails to offer the right conditions to invest.

The 60m fund, unveiled by Labour in the Budget earlier this year, would pay for infrastructure work which private firms would be unable to finance themselves but Ministers have refused to confirm they will honour it.

Mr Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, said "It's very, very important that the Government goes ahead with the money that we allocated for the ports competition, which is modernising the ports."

The Yorkshire Post Powering Yorkshire's Future campaign aims to secure the jobs for the region.