Offshore Energies Magazine - Winter 2022/23

Brian Payne

Union makes demands OEUK has been working closely with the trade union GMB. It is a key influencer of policy development. It posed five key questions to the Labour Party during its conference, including what would be the percentage requirement for local content in renewable energy generating plant; and whether it was opposing new licences for drilling in the North Sea. The union’s general secretary Gary Smith said: “Labour’s energy policy needs to deliver for working people or it won’t deliver at the ballot box. It’s all well and good talking about the shift to green industries, but where’s the plan for the tens of thousands of energy workers who will be affected? “So far, the supposed jobs bonanza in renewables manufacturing has been a sick joke at the expense of UK workers, with authoritarian regimes across the world hoovering up contracts that should be completed here at home. We need a plan that understands the value that energy workers bring to their communities and our country. This plan must live in the real world, or it is doomed to fail.”

“Great British Energy will be a new company that takes advantage of opportunities in clean British power because it's right for jobs, right for growth, right for energy independence from tyrants like Putin.” – Labour leader Keir Starmer

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