‘We would invest in former mine areas’

JEREMY Corbyn has pledged that a future Labour Government will invest in former mining areas which are blighted by poverty.

The Labour leader also said that a Government led by him would not cancel rail electrification and he said he wanted to see investment in renewable energy.

His comments come as controversy continues about the UK Government’s decision to scrap electrification between Cardiff and Swansea on the Great Western main line, and there is uncertainty as to whether it will give the green light for the energy-generating Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.

Mr Corbyn said: “It’s about investment in new industries. And so, for example, I want to see a much bigger renewable sector.”

During an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Mr Corbyn also stressed that a Labour Government would be ready to invest in the steel industry, and challenged the argument that EU rules on “state aid” made it impossible to intervene.

Mr Corbyn highlighted the challenges still facing parts of the UK which were once mining heartlands, saying: “If you take the post-mining areas of the country, [there has been] precious little investment in 20 or 30 years, low-quality jobs, low pay, real poverty there. That’s because there’s been a lack of Government involvement.

“So we will set up a national investment bank, we will have regional development agencies, we will invest in all those areas.”

He also said: “We would not be cancelling Crossrail for the North, we would not be cancelling [main line electrification], we would not be cancelling electrification in the south west.”

On the steel industry, he said: “I would have wanted us to intervene immediately on SSI Redcar when the steel industry was in a crisis at that time. The Government claimed there were issues of state aid. We disputed that. But I would want to say that we would be able to invest in industries.”

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, stressed Labour support for the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.

An independent review gave the thumbs-up to the project in January but the UK Government has yet to respond.

Ms Long-Bailey said: “[We’ve] been pushing [Energy Secretary] Greg Clark to make a decision on this but the worrying thing with Swansea tidal lagoon... [If the investors] don’t get a decision from Government soon then we can probably forget about Swansea tidal lagoon.”

“And this is our one opportunity to lead the world in this industry and build other projects all around our coastline.”