On 11 October, I joined the Prime Minister, fellow regional mayors, and the leaders of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in an overcast Edinburgh for the UK’s first Council of Nations and Regions.
Our meeting was brightened by the news of thousands more new jobs in green industries thanks to over £24 billion of private investment being secured for our country. And the genuine partnership shown brought real light to how politicians from every corner of the country can work with Westminster to deliver the growth we need, with confirmation of an upcoming ten-year national infrastructure strategy in the spring.
The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is right that this investment is a huge vote of confidence in the UK. So too for the almost £40 billion of further investment announced at the International Investment Summit in London, where I joined him, the Chancellor, the government's new investment minister, and other leaders again on 14 October. We will continue working hard to bring more funding and opportunity to the West of England.
The clouds are parting, and hope is breaking through after the storm of so many years of Tory economic mismanagement.
Our journey to the sunny uplands that we know we can get to – by working together and investing for the long-term – will be powered by clean energy. That progress was kickstarted in part within just three days of our new government taking office: overturning the Tories’ backward ban on onshore wind, and getting started with Great British Energy. And the capacity of the solar projects consented in the last three months is greater than the amount installed in the last year.
Our region is already a pioneer in clean energy, with many world-leading projects, but we must ensure a diverse economy with blue and white collar jobs so that nobody is left behind during this economic transformation. Last month, my Mayoral Combined Authority launched our new £100 million green investment fund to help us create even more jobs in a growing sector, committing the first £10 million of funding.
Our emerging Local Growth Plan sees the amazing potential of net zero energy transition and logistics along the Severn Estuary, with wind and tidal in partnership with the Welsh Labour Government, including a floating wind farm. It is also prioritising net zero manufacturing and rural productivity in the Somer Valley. And, just after the UK became the first country in the world to close its last coal power station, there remains real opportunity in the heat stored in more than 100 now-flooded former mines across our region. Our proud history can be turned into the jobs and power of the future, particularly in and around the Somerset Coalfield.
The work of change has begun. The United Kingdom is open for business, today and every day – and so is the West of England. We will continue doing everything we can to secure more investment, more jobs, and more growth for the million people who live in our part of the world.