Keir Starmer green speech: Recap key points and watch back as PM unveils £22bn carbon capture plan – LabourList

The Prime Minister has delivered a major speech in north-west England today, unveiling Labour’s £22 billion carbon capture funding plan.

Keir Starmer aas joined by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to announce funding for two “carbon capture clusters” on Merseyside and Teeside.

The projects will create thousands of jobs, attract investment from the private sector and help Britain meet its climate goals, the government says.

You can recap on key highlights from our liveblog earlier and rewatch the speech via the stream below.

11.37: Middle East ‘on the brink’, PM warns

One journalist asks about the risk of Britain being dragged into conflict with Iran.

The PM says he spoken to US, French, German, G7, Israeli, Iranian leaders about the need for de-escalation in recent weeks.

‘I am concerned that this is on the brink.’

11.36: Donations and gifts row

Starmer says the government is going to ‘draw up some principles’ about gifts when asked about freebies by a journalist. He won’t call on his colleagues to repay gifts until that’s drawn up, he adds.

11.35: ‘No repeat of the past’

In response to another question, Starmer says there won’t be a repeat of what happened with struggling industries in the past where workers were told to get on their bike, he says.

It’s a reference to Norman Tebbit’s highly controversial comments in the 80s amid soaring unemployment.

11.33: Assisted dying will be free vote, PM repeats

Asked by the media about assisted dying, he said he’d made a commitment to Esther Rantzen on it, and it’d be a free vote.

Read more about the upcoming bill on assisted dying here.

11.31: Investment will provide ‘secure jobs’

Starmer said that the investment would be important for the regional economy in Merseyside and said it would provide “secure jobs”.

He also said that there would be a secondary benefit of increased spending in the local economy, including restaurants and theatres.

11.30: ‘Crucial step forward’

Keir Starmer defends the government’s investment in carbon capture projects and said that there is a “unique opportunity” for such projects. He said the investment offers a “bright future”.

11.26: Getting ahead of the game

Carbon capture is an opportunity for the UK to get ahead in industry, Starmer reiterates.

“We’ve got the skills and the jobs and the potential to get ahead on carbon capture. That is a good thing in its own right, but separately it supports glass, it supports cement it supports those industries where there’s always going to be an element of carbon.”

11.23: Energy security

Starmer adds that investment in green technology would help with Britain’s energy security in the long run.

He says: “This is about making sure we’re taking the long term decisions to keep those energy bills down for good for millions of people across the country.”

11.19: Tough decisions

Starmer defends the “tough decisions” his party has taken in office, including cuts to the winter fuel allowance.

“We’ve got to take difficult decisions to budget in relation to the missing money from the last government,” he says.

11.18: “Invest or decline”

When a BBC journalist says the Tories had made similar plans, Starmer says Labour put actual money aside and made agreements for it.

The ‘big political divide’ is – ‘invest or decline’, he says.

“Carbon capture is a race that we can win. We have the financial know how in London and Edinburgh, world leaders in green finance. We have the geology.”

11.16: Looking to the future

Starmer adds: “Above all, we have to invest together, because you can’t bury your head and hide from the future.”

He will now take questions from the media.

11.13: A golden opportunity

“I’m absolutely confident, mark my words, we can do this. And the timing is right,” Starmer says.

“I’ve always believed that clean energy is a golden opportunity for our country.”

11.11: “I know what we lost”

Starmer talks about his past career in law before entering politics. The PM says Labour’s investment today is ‘the politics of national renewal in action’, highlighting one of his key slogans.

He says decarbonisation needn’t mean deindustrialisation.

He says: “One of the first cases I did was a challenge to the then Tory government program to close the coal mines, and that meant that I worked with families and communities who were going to lose their jobs in a really important industry for them. And I therefore know firsthand what this country lost when we ended coal in that way.”

He adds: “I also know how we can rewrite our story in the ink of the future.”

11.08: A landmark week

Starmer also references the phasing out of coal, saying: “It is a landmark week in our national story, because this week we saw the end of coal – the power that built this country for many years.”

Starmer says ‘politics is about what you’re thinking about when you’re making your decisions’.

‘What matters to me and to us in the government is what a difference [our plan] makes for your lives and the lives of other people who are doing jobs like you.’

11.06: Starmer begins

Starmer references his father being a toolmaker once again.

“For me, there’s no substitute for coming to places where you and others work and getting a sense of myself of what you do how skilled it is and how important it is to our country,” he says, thanking the event’s hosts.

11.05: “A new chapter”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is speaking now.

She says: “It’s great to be here to announce the £21.7 billion for two groundbreaking projects in Teesside and in Merseyside, which will be the beginning of a new chapter in our British industrial history, a chapter that we are making together.”

“It shows that this government’s growth mission will reach every corner of Great Britain,” she adds.

Keir Starmer is up next.

11.03: “Not this time”

Ed Miliband adds: “Too often in the past, Britain has blown its chance of industrial success. We say today, not this time. This government is committed to use every lever to win for Britain.”

11.02: Ed Miliband speaking

The Energy Secretary is speaking first.

Ed Miliband hails a “historic” week for Britain’s electricity system with the transition away from coal.

“A new era begins” he adds, hailing the introduction of carbon capture initiatives.

10.38: Speech starts shortly

Follow the Prime Minister’s speech via video here:

10.02am: Push towards green

This week’s announcement comes against the backdrop of the UK becoming the first major economy to wean its power grid off coal.

Read a piece on LabourList about the move here: ‘Coal switch off: Achieving Labour’s original energy mission’

9.30am: Miliband on the rounds

Green investment isn’t likely to be the only question on reporters’ lips today.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was asked about an upcoming vote on assisted dying while on the broadcast rounds this morning.

9.25am: Green investment up north

The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hailed the “reigniting” of Britain’s industrial heartlands with the launch of new carbon capture clusters in the north of England.

He said: “Today’s announcement will give industry the certainty it needs – committing to 25 years of funding in this ground-breaking technology – to help deliver jobs, kickstart growth, and repair this country once and for all.”

Recap on all of the news and debate from party conference 2024 by LabourList here.

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