Nissan backs Britain

Boris Johnson has described today as “a pivotal moment in our electric vehicle revolution” as Nissan confirmed its plans to build a “gigafactory” in Sunderland to manufacture its new generation of all-electric vehicles and batteries. 
 
The Japanese car-maker’s major expansion is part of a £1bn investment and is predicted to create 6,200 jobs at the site and within UK supply chains.
 
This long-term investment is a huge boost to the North East and the UK car industry as a whole. The PM insists it is a major vote of confidence in post-Brexit Britain. 
 
Ahead of the Brexit deal, Nissan had warned about the future of the Sunderland plant if the UK government was unable to come to an agreement with the EU. Today, however, Ashwani Gupta, the company’s chief operating officer, declared: “Nissan is moving forward to use Brexit as an opportunity.”
 
One thing Gupta would not disclose is exactly how much money the UK government has funnelled into the project – though it’s thought to be tens of millions of pounds. Yet for a project that simultaneously addresses Johnson’s levelling up and decarbonisation agendas, the PM would no doubt insist that it’s money well spent. 
 
Scaling up our manufacturing of electric cars and batteries is indeed vital. From 2030, the sale of new cars and vans powered solely by petrol or diesel will be banned in the UK. 
 
What’s more, from 2024, under the terms of the UK-EU Brexit deal, the quantity of UK-made components in cars manufactured in Britain must increase if UK-assembled cars are to avoid tariffs when exported to the EU. 
 
It is hoped the new plant will be operational in time for 2024. 
 
While Nissan’s investment is welcome news, we mustn’t get complacent. By industry estimates, the UK is still on course to have less than a tenth of the battery production capacity of Germany by 2025.
 
This new development is an encouraging first step. But it must be the first of many such investments in the UK. 
 
Keir’s worst fears
 
Voters in Batley and Spen are heading to the polls today to pick their new MP in the West Yorkshire constituency’s hotly anticipated by-election. 
 
Less than two months on from Labour’s crushing defeat in Hartlepool, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Sir Keir Starmer.

If he loses the seat, it will be the first time a governing party has made two by-election gains in a single term since 1929. What is more, Batley and Spen has voted red for almost 25 years. 
 
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour candidate contesting the seat, is the sister of Jo Cox who was Batley’s MP until her shocking murder by a far-right extremist and local resident in 2016. 
 
Leadbeater has run a strong, local campaign. Yet polls predict Tory candidate, Ryan Stephenson, is on course to win the seat, with Labour trailing six points behind. 
 
If the conservatives are victorious, will there be a bid to oust Starmer? 
 
According to the latest YouGov poll, four in ten Labour members think that Starmer should resign if he loses the seat. And 69 per cent think Andy Burnham is better suited for the role of leader. 
 
Speculation is rife that Starmer’s deputy, Angela Rayner, and her allies are plotting a coup. Rayner has refuted these claims. 
 
Of course, we mustn’t jump the gun. While the polls paint a gloomy picture for Labour, pundits say the results are much less predictable than in Hartlepool. 
 
Batley and Spen is ethnically mixed and comprised of several towns and villages with significant disparities in wealth – all of which makes the outcome difficult to gauge. 
 
The suspense is almost unbearable. But, there’s only hours to go. 
 
White public goods
 
Today, the government unveiled a new set of energy efficiency laws in a bid to make fridges, washing machines and televisions cheaper to run, easier to repair and longer lasting. 
 
The aim is to tackle “premature obsolescence” – where manufacturers deliberately create a short lifespan for electrical appliances. 
 
Short lifespans might financially reward the makers but they cost the consumer and, crucially, contribute to the 1.5 million tonnes of electrical waste generated by the UK alone every year.
 
From this summer onwards, manufacturers will be legally obliged to make spare parts available, so that when your washing machine breaks you can get it fixed instead of throwing it out.
 
The move is expected to extend the lifespan of products by up to 10 years.
 

Caitlin Allen,
Reaction Reporter