Latest news with #reindustrialisation
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
British politics is in a loop and it's Farage's vision that's stuck on repeat
As so often happens, what Nigel Farage said on a recent visit to south Wales deserved endless pejoratives. It was ludicrous, condescending, half-baked, opportunistic and plain stupid. Even he didn't seem to know exactly what he wanted. At a Reform UK press conference in Port Talbot, he seemed to make the case for reopening the town's steel-making blast furnaces, before admitting that 'it might be easier to build a new one', though he also acknowledged that it would 'cost in the low billions' to do so. But he had even more dizzying visions of reopened Welsh mines. 'If you offer people well-paying jobs … many will take them,' said Farage, 'even though you have to accept that mining is dangerous.' The climate crisis, predictably enough, was not worth considering. He also did not offer any opinions about coal-related issues such as slag heaps, land slips, rivers that run black, and unimaginable underground disasters. When he was asked where new pits might be located, he blithely offered the opinion that it 'comes down to geology'. That is true, up to a point, but he would surely also have to think about the housing developments and business parks that often sit atop all those disused coal seams. The whole thing was – of course – politics on the level of pub bullshit, but Farage and his people presumably knew that. What mattered was the resulting spectacle: Britain's foremost populist proposing to 'reindustrialise' Wales, in the face of entirely reasonable doubts, mockery and outright opposition from voices easily maligned as the usual distant elites. In that sense the visit was a win, repeating a formula that has been working for a very long time. Besides Farage's own enviable political skills, there are obvious reasons for that. The first is to do with the fact that the basic social and economic conditions that fed into the rise of the UK Independence party and the Brexit referendum remain unchanged. It seems, in fact, to be 2016 for ever: Britain is still a country of anaemic growth and productivity, ongoing local austerity, stagnant wages and fear of the future. Those conditions explain people's ever-deepening disdain for mainstream politicians, and their sense that as life constantly goes round in circles, Westminster does not seem able or willing to break the pattern. Every grim rotation, moreover, seems to be accompanied by ever-more extreme manifestations of the country's dysfunctionality. Our passage to a new political era used to be marked by the results of elections and referendums. But of late, it feels as if more vivid proof of where we are heading is provided by civil disturbances. Last year's summer riots were an obvious example. In the same week that saw massed violence in Salford, we have just seen horrific outbreaks of racist violence in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena, and Farage has offered opinions that follow his usual slippery script: 'I just wonder whether it is not a deeper, broader problem we saw something of after Southport last year. You know what? If they'd listened to me, none of this would have happened.' A question not asked enough in political journalism is what life in contemporary Britain feels like. The answer in part comes down to a profound sense of tension and a constant, latent fear that something awful is about to happen. Farage attracts supporters by offering himself as an answer to that feeling – but to those who recoil from him, he is the source of it. Like Donald Trump, that combination makes him a very zeitgeisty politician. So does his presence on social media – which, even if most politicians do not yet understand it, has changed what is required to be a successful public figure even more radically than TV once did. Farage has 1.3 million TikTok followers, as many as every other Westminster politician combined. Particularly since Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, he is regularly cited and praised in the parallel news universe that millions of people now take their information from – full of scurrilous rumours and explanations for events rooted in QAnon-like conspiracies. That ecosystem blurs into the nightmarish version of reality X offers as a kind of mood music, represented by endless videos of violence and hostile altercations between members of the public. All this suits Farage – and Farage-ism – just fine. His key asset is a diagnosis of people's problems that gets simpler and sharper by the week: you are scared and struggling, he and his allies tell the public, because the government spends too much money on foreigners and is full of privileged and snobby people who know nothing of your pain. The Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham recently gave an interview to the centre-left journal Renewal, in which he mused on what effective political communication now entails. The governments led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, he said, operated in 'a world of nuance', but social media 'just ended all of that'. What he said next sounded like a brisk answer to why Farage is winning: our modern means of communication, he said, 'changed politics, and politics hasn't changed enough to reflect that … people want instant opinions from elected representatives. They want authentic opinions'. Six weeks ago I watched Farage do a walkabout in a neighbourhood of Scunthorpe, surrounded by crowds of people jostling to take pictures of him on their phones. Not long after he had been presented with an Airfix tank, he commented that all the attention was 'the benefit of just being real, you know what I mean?' Clearly, just like Boris Johnson in his pomp, a great deal of his persona – the clothes, the pints, every calculated pronouncement – is actually affectation and pretence. But politics is now so low on charisma and the common touch that simply being comfortable in your own skin looks like a kind of spectacular normality. In that sense, Starmer and Labour's other high-ups might be Farage's ideal adversaries. With the possible exception of Angela Rayner, they are mostly bloodless and hesitant. They cling on to a presentational style that is 20 years out of date, built around pre-ordained news themes on the proverbial 'grid', set-piece interviews, and complicated and chronically abstract rhetoric: 'missions', 'renewal', the constant chase for growth. Of late, the prime minister has tried his own occasional approximations of Farage's approach, putting up such blunt and boastful online posts as: 'I've already returned over 24,000 people with no right to be here. And I won't stop there.' But that style rings hollow, because he doesn't have Farage's swaggering confidence nor any understanding of how to bring such directness to the way he talks about Labour's fundamentals: the economy, jobs, public services. There is also something to be said about how the government intends to change the country. After a wasted year, last week's spending review contained a surprising amount of good news, not least on housing. But it was all about the kind of investment that will not start to become visible until 2028 or 2029. Everyday life, it seems, will continue moving in ever-decreasing circles for another three or four years. That is a long time for Farage to carry on making mischief, as he illustrates an aspect of modern Britain too little understood – that, to an extent that vividly illustrates other people's colossal failures, he looks like the only front-rank figure who understands how 21st-century politics actually works. John Harris is a Guardian columnist
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Labour must tell its working class story, says Jonathan Reynolds
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said Labour needs to be "better" at telling the story of the working-class communities it at a lunch for parliamentary journalists, he accused Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of being an "absolute parody" when he said he wanted to re-open coal mines in said his grandfather was a coal miner, but told his son "don't go down the mines". His father became a firefighter instead.A spokesperson for Reform UK said the party would continue to call for the reindustrialisation of Britain. Ahead of a visit to Port Talbot on Monday, Nigel Farage wrote on WalesOnline: "We would allow coal, if suitable, to be mined in Wales as part of Reform's long-term ambition to reopen the Port Talbot steelworks but we know this will not be quick or easy."Mr Reynolds, who represents the constituency of Stalybridge and Hyde, in Greater Manchester, said: "That is an absolute parody of what someone like Nigel thinks people, the people I grew up with actually want."My grandfather was a coal miner... and he was the winding engine man... that's a position of real responsibility and actually family pride for us growing up for where we did. " had one message for my dad, which is, 'don't go down the mine'. And he became a fireman, again, professional working class job, but that's the bit that our opponents don't understand, the pride in where we're from and what we represent, but also the aspiration for the future."I think we have to tell that story better. People like me have to come out and tell that story better."Reynolds, who led the UK government's take-over of Chinese-owned British Steel, in Scunthorpe, went on to say he thought there was an "incredible amount of alienation" among enough people believed they could have a decent life, he told journalists, in contrast to when his parents, who were from Sunderland and left school at 16, were starting out in life."Instead of going on honeymoon. they could buy a house, the financial security for our entire family. "That story is not available right now in this generation for British people. So that alienation is there, and we have to address that."Reynolds attended a comprehensive school and Manchester University before embarking on a legal career, although he never completed his solicitor training.A Reform UK Spokesperson said: "Labour are continuing to deindustrialise our towns and communities across the country. "They don't blink when we lose thousands of well paid jobs in these crucial industries."Labour simply don't understand working people. Reform will continue to call for the reindustrialisation of Britain and with it, bring back thousands of well paid jobs."
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The Independent
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Nigel Farage ridiculed for plan to ‘re-industrialise Wales'
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds criticised Nigel Farage 's plan to reopen coal mines in Wales, calling it a "parody" of what working-class people want. Mr Reynolds, whose grandfather was a coal miner, said Farage failed to understand the pride and aspirations of working-class communities. Mr Farage announced Reform UK 's ambition to restart Port Talbot's blast furnaces and 're-industrialise Wales' by resuming coal production, aiming to challenge Labour's dominance in the Senedd elections. Mr Reynolds also defended the UK's plan for closer trade ties with the US, emphasising the need to engage despite differing views. Mr Reynolds recounted a phone call with his US counterpart, humorously noting concerns about poor phone signal potentially leading to unintended concessions during negotiations.
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Public perceptions of Starmer and Farage are perhaps a bit hazy
The optics could hardly be more different. On one stage, Nigel Farage was in a Welsh former steel town talking about reopening coalmines. On another, Keir Starmer enjoyed a cosy chat with a tech multi-billionaire wearing a £7,000 leather jacket. Does this therefore show that the Reform UK leader has been successful in, to use his words, parking his tanks on Labour's lawn and becoming the voice of working people? As ever in politics, it's all a bit more complicated. For one thing, Starmer is not exactly a stranger to the factory floor. Little more than a week ago, he used a glass plant in St Helens, Merseyside, as the backdrop for a speech condemning Reform's fiscal plans. Recent months have seen him pop up at car production lines, armaments companies, rail infrastructure depots, you name it. Additionally, as prime minister you need to take every industry seriously, and it made sense for Starmer to open London tech week alongside Jensen Huang, even if the head of US semiconductor firm Nvidia is a man whose trademark look is a Tom Ford leather jacket. The complications work both ways. For all that Farage used his speech in Port Talbot to deliver a Donald Trump-like message of fossil fuel-led reindustrialisation, his natural milieu involves a bit less dirt under the fingernails. To take one example, on Monday Farage briefly mentioned being in Las Vegas two weeks ago 'launching our crypto and digital assets bill', when he was in fact a guest speaker at the lavish Bitcoin 2025 conference. It is not known if Farage was being paid for the appearance, but he is no stranger to corporate gigs. Since becoming an MP he has trousered £40,000 for a speech to an offshore taxation conference, and £280,000 promoting gold bullion, not to mention a TV job that pays about £2,500 per hour. And yet, in a poll released last week, it emerged that slightly more British voters think Farage – a public school-educated former City trader – is more working class than Starmer, who is, as we heard many times during the general election, the son of a toolmaker. What is going on? One bit of context is that actually not that many people believed it about either – 19% for Farage, and 17% with Starmer. Why so few for the prime minister? In part, it's likely to be his long pre-politics career as a lawyer and then director of public prosecutions – and particularly the knighthood that resulted. More generally, it's fair to say that voters' impressions of politicians are often a bit hazy. A long-running YouGov tracker of the most popular British politicians has Brexit-backing Conservative peer David Frost top, and the shadow education secretary, Laura Trott, third, unlikely results widely assumed to be because people have mistaken them for the more fondly recalled late TV host and Olympic cyclist respectively. More pertinent is that when it comes to actual voter support, Reform are now the top choice among working-class voters. One poll last month said that just 17% supported Labour, against 39% for Reform. Farage is very aware of this current advantage, and makes a point of regular speeches at working men's clubs, channelling Trump's paradoxical political status as a wealthy man who largely spends time with other wealthy men who nonetheless attracts support in deprived areas. All that said, Starmer is determined to shift those Reform tanks by pointing out another similarity with Trump – the fact that Farage's policies seem more generally aimed at the managerial class than those on the factory floor. Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, argued recently that Farage was 'cosplaying' as a voice of the working classes, and that his opposition to the government's employment rights bill and lack of a coherent economic plan showed his lack of authenticity. Even as Farage talks up the return of heavy industry and calls for the water industry to be nationalised, expect more of the same from Downing Street, plus Starmer's insistence that a 'Liz Truss 2.0' policy of mass tax cuts would hurt ordinary families the most. And if you run a factory, brace yourself for more political visits.
BreakingNews.ie
09-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Nigel Farage calls for ‘re-industrialisation' of Wales
Nigel Farage has said his party wants to restart Port Talbot's blast furnaces and 're-industrialise Wales'. On a visit to South Wales, the leader of Reform UK said the resumption of traditional steelmaking and coal production is the party's long-term ambition if it comes to power. Advertisement The speech came one year ahead of the Senedd elections in May next year, where the party is looking to end Labour's 26 years of domination. Addressing reporters, Mr Farage acknowledged that plans to open a traditional furnace could take years and cost 'in the low billions'. The GMB Union has branded the plans 'more lies from an opportunistic chancer'. Port Talbot's remaining blast furnaces were shut down in September, with a new electric arc furnace being built in their place. Advertisement Tata Steel, the owner of the plant, said the closure of the furnaces was necessary, with the steelworks losing £1m a day. 'Our ambition is to re-industrialise Wales,' Mr Farage said. 'We are going to be using more steel over the next few years than we have probably ever used. 'As we increase military spending and as we attempt a house building programme in Wales, and even more so in England, of massive proportions, just to catch up with the population explosion over the last 20 years, we are going to need a lot of steel.' Advertisement Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales (Ben Birchall/PA) The Reform leader said 'specific types of coal' are needed in the UK, particularly for a new blast furnace. 'I'm not saying let's open all of the pits,' he said. 'What I am saying is coal, specific types of coal for certain uses that we still need in this country – and we certainly will need for the blast furnaces here – we should be producing ourselves rather than importing.' While he acknowledged 'mining is dangerous', Mr Farage said the industry could provide well-paying jobs. Advertisement The Reform leader acknowledged the plan to open a new furnace would cost 'in the low billions' and would be 'no easy thing'. 'It's a massive, expensive job to reopen blast furnaces, we're going to need cheaper energy, we're going to need much cheaper coal, we are going to need private business partners prepared to come into a joint venture,' he said. Responding to the GMB Union allegations that his party's plans were 'lies', Mr Farage said the union was tied to the Labour Party as one of its biggest funders. He said: 'They see us as a challenge, and therefore, they'll be rude about us. Advertisement 'What you will find is that increasingly, GMB members are going to vote for us, and the more GMB members vote for us, the more upset GMB officials and leaders will become. 'Frankly, the trade unions have done nothing to protect British workers through open borders over the last 20-25 years.' During his speech, Mr Farage said he doubted that the electric arc furnace, which is due to come online in 2028, 'will ever, ever be switched on'. Challenged on what evidence he had, he argued that with British energy prices being so high, it would be producing 'very, very expensive secondary steel'. He added: 'I hope I'm wrong, an electric arc furnace is not the real deal, but it's better than nothing.' Mr Farage said the party's campaign for the Senedd election next May 'starts today', but would not say when Reform would announce a leader in Wales. Regional officer Ruth Brady, speaking at the GMB's annual conference in Brighton, said: 'The people of Port Talbot will see this for what it is – more lies from this opportunistic chancer. 'Nigel Farage was happy to let British Steel go to the wall. He'll trot out any line when the cameras are rolling. He doesn't care about steel communities or steel workers.' Ms Brady said the plans to shut the blast furnaces were made by the last Tory government and the union wanted Labour to 'make good on their promises to our members in Port Talbot'. Political opponents hit out at Reform's plans, with a Welsh Labour spokesperson saying the people of Wales would 'see through' Mr Farage's false hopes and promises. 'His answer is to bring back the mines. The only thing Nigel Farage is trying to mine is votes from communities that have already gone through tough times,' they said. 'Nigel Farage has today brought his fantasy politics and magic money tree to Port Talbot. He's gambling with real people's livelihoods.' Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, accused Mr Farage of making 'wild promises' without speaking to Tata. Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick argued mining was Wales' past, not its future. Nigel Farage acknowledged 'mining is dangerous' but said the industry could provide well-paying jobs (Ben Birchall/PA) 'My relatives in South Wales worked hard to ensure that their children and grandchildren wouldn't have to do the dangerous work of going down the pits and for future generations to have better opportunities in life,' he said. 'The fact that Nigel Farage doesn't see this shows how poorly he understands Welsh communities.' Heledd Fychan, speaking for Plaid Cymru, accused Mr Farage of 'taking advantage' after the industry said reopening the existing furnaces would be 'impossible.' 'You can imagine my surprise at his calls to reopen the coal mines in Wales, especially considering the actions taken by his political hero, Margaret Thatcher,' she said. 'Reform clearly have no interest in actually improving the lives of the people of Wales, they can only come up with unrealistic and unsubstantiated headlines that will be of no material benefit to the people of Port Talbot or Wales. Greenpeace also hit out at the plans, saying bringing back British coal 'has about as much chance of success as resurrecting dinosaurs'.
