Category Archives: Industrial policy

‘Zombie government’: more than half of departments delay key decisions

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As an economic crisis looms in the UK, legislation shelved and deadlines missed on energy, online safety and gambling laws

Mining along the west coast of Cumbria goes back to at least the 1600s, and this summer the local community awaited a crucial government decision on whether a new deep coalmine operation would be given the go-ahead.

While proponents of the £165m deep coalmine near Whitehaven say it would create jobs and help power the UK’s steel industry, environmental campaigners say it would undermine the government’s commitment to meeting climate targets.

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Grant Shapps urges P&O Ferries to U-turn on sacking of 800 workers

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The transport secretary is expected to close loopholes to ensure ferry companies pay the UK minimum wage

Grant Shapps is writing to the chief executive of P&O Ferries urging him to announce a U-turn on the decision to sack 800 workers without notice, as unions pledged to “ratchet up the fight” after a weekend of protests.

The transport secretary is expected to present a package of legislation on Wednesday to close loopholes and ensure ferry companies running regular services to and from the British Isles pay their crew the UK minimum wage.

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UK and Scottish government agree deal on freeports in Scotland

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Plan proposes two ‘green freeports’ based around low-emission industries

UK ministers and the Scottish government have reached a deal over proposed freeports in Scotland, after months of disagreement over what No 10 has billed as one of the main economic benefits of Brexit.

The Scottish government had resisted the idea of freeports – specific areas that offer tax breaks and other incentives to investors – which are intended to revitalise deprived areas but have been accused of encouraging tax avoidance and lower regulation.

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Old-school Stellantis car factories gear up for the shock of electric

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Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant is one of many whose future lies in the hands of the merged auto giant

Carlos Tavares is an unashamed petrolhead, with a rally-racing hobby that harks back to an earlier automotive age. Yet carmakers like Stellantis, which he leads, and its rivals have had to set aside affection for roaring internal combustion engines as environmental rules set the limits for the industry.

Stellantis was formed in January in a €50bn (£43bn) merger between France’s Peugeot and Italian-American Fiat Chrysler, in one of the clearest responses to the Tesla-driven electric revolution: the merger will allow them to share expensive investments in battery technology.

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Working nine to nine: Chinese tech employees push back against very long hours

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Staff at Alibaba, Huawei and other well-known companies have shared evidence of unpaid compulsory overtime

Chinese tech employees have pushed back against a wave of protest over the industry’s notoriously long hours, known as the “996” schedule of working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week.

For months, former and current employees of some of the country’s most well-known companies had been posting evidence of unpaid, often compulsory or heavily encouraged overtime on the code-sharing platform Github.

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