Rolls-Royce to invest £300 million in UK as Chancellor promises a "new age of industrialisation"
Chancellor John Healey used his Labour conference speech to promise a "new age of industrialisation"
Rolls-Royce is to invest an extra £300 million into four of its British factories, the Chancellor has announced as he pledged a "new age of industrialisation."
John Healey told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that the money would go into plants in Derby, Bristol, Glasgow and Rotherham.
He framed the investment as evidence of what he called "the new age of industrialisation".
"In Derby, where they made the Spitfire engines, Rolls-Royce now build nuclear reactors and put the UK at the front of clean energy globally," Healey said.
"And so today I can announce that Rolls-Royce will invest an extra £300 million pounds into its British factories in Derby, in Bristol, in Glasgow and in Rotherham," he said.
"This is the new age of industrialisation, this is the new confidence in Britain lit by this Government, driven forward by business."
An economic speech ahead of the Budget
The announcement came during his first party conference speech as Chancellor, in which he set out some of his economic priorities ahead of the Budget, which he said he will deliver "a month today".
He said the core of that Budget would be "fiscal discipline, to give families and businesses a bit of breathing space, to drive good growth and jobs in more places and to write a new chapter of hope for Britain's future".
Healey also insisted the Government was committed to being responsible with the nation's finances, telling delegates the Prime Minister and he were "in lockstep" on meeting the fiscal rules.
Healey blamed previous governments for debt
He blamed the Conservatives for the country's debt burden, pointing to "14 years of flatlining Tory growth and living standards".
"You left crumbling public services, and you left Britain spending more on debt, more on debt than the Home Office, Defence, and Justice put together," he said.
"The cost of the nation's debt is not just a number in a Chancellor's budget," he said.
"It's the money that we can't spend on the NHS, on schools, on housing, on social care, on policing our streets, on controlling our borders, on defending our country," he said.
The Chancellor turned much of his focus to young people, saying he wanted to help move a generation from "generation jeopardy to generation hope".
"I refuse to write off a million young people like the Tories have done," he said.
"I see a generation born this century, digital natives, whip-smart, questioning, ambitious, brave, I see the best asset we have in our young people, and I believe this generation has the potential to be a great generation," he said.
Conservatives say Labour are 'running scared'
Ahead of the speech Tory Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said: “These are more reheated announcements without clarity on where the money is coming from. Additional docks were announced months ago in the defence investment plan, which still has a £4.7 billion black hole.
“John Healey resigned warning that Labour’s failure to fund defence was making Britain unsafe. Now that he is Chancellor, he still won’t fund the 3% target he walked out over.
“Labour are running scared of making the tough choices needed to pay for Britain’s defence. All they can offer is reannounced docks and more hot air from Healey. Only the Conservatives will cut the welfare bill to fund defence.”