‘Ministers need to come to Hull and sit round the table with INEOS, our council leaders, our MPs and the unions, and agree a plan to get these plants working again’
Ineos announced that it was suspending operations at its three plants at Saltend Chemicals Park owing to high gas prices(Image: PA)
East Yorkshire peer Lord McCobb has challenged the government to do far more and step in to secure the restart of the INEOS plants at Saltend. He is urging ministers to do more to power up the acetyls plants at Saltend Chemicals Park, which were mothballed last month.
Former Hull councillor Dave McCobb was officially introduced to the House of Lords in September. He has made it his mission to support jobs and the economy and has already submitted a strongly-worded question in parliament about the region’s key chemicals plant.
In his challenge to the Government, he has asked ministers what they are doing to secure the restart of the three INEOS acetyls plants at Saltend. Lord McCobb is also asking ministers to say how much of the £350m in support for chemicals producers they have cited in response will actually reach Saltend.
He is urging the government to urgently convene a summit meeting in Hull between ministers, INEOS, the leaders of Hull and East Riding councils, local MPs and trades unions to kickstart the recovery of the industry that is so important to the region.
Liberal Democrat Lord McCobb explained his many decades of experience in local and regional politics only underlined how important the industry is here – not just at the plant itself but the many businesses up the supply chain.
“Twenty-four years as a local councillor in Hull showed me just how vital good, secure jobs are for families all across the city and beyond. Hundreds of those jobs are at Saltend, with thousands more across the Humber depending on them,” he said.
“Ministers need to come to Hull and sit round the table with INEOS, our council leaders, our MPs and the unions, and agree a plan to get these plants working again. Pointing to support schemes from Westminster is not the same as making sure the support actually arrives.”
Boosting jobs and East Yorkshire’s economy is a key priority. “I came into parliament to put Hull and East Yorkshire’s case directly to the Government. This is that case, and I’ll keep making it until ministers give Saltend’s workers the fair deal they deserve,” Lord McCobb added.
“In terms of immediate next steps, I think the Government should listen to the calls from Cllr Mike Ross, local MPs and others to bring everyone together as a matter of urgency and find a way forward. This site is far too important to the local economy for it to be mothballed indefinitely.”
INEOS halted production at all three plants in late September, blaming UK gas prices that chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe said are ‘twelve times the level in the US and eight times that of China’.
‘The government needs to show up and play its part’ states council leader
About 300 people work at the site, with about 4,000 more skilled jobs across the Humber supply chain reported to depend on it.
Cllr Mike Ross, the Lib Dem leader of Hull City Council, has previously said: “Saltend jobs matter to families right across Hull and the East Riding. We are ready to work with anyone to get these plants restarted, and we need the government to show up and play its part.”
The Government needs to act much more quickly to bring the plant back to life, according to the Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart. Although keen to work cross-party on the issue, he is holding Labour to account on his Facebook page and recently posted about the importance of clear and tangible actions for the mothballed site.
“We heard a lot at the Labour conference about bringing growth and industry back to the north, and this is where those words are put to the test. I am pressing ministers to break their silence, sit down with INEOS, and find out what can be done to protect these jobs,” the MP posted to his followers.
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