Labour’s first international investment summit since seizing power has allegedly secured a whopping £63bn in pledges for the British economy. But is this astronomical figure truly a cause for celebration, or just another case of creative accounting?
The event, which saw the government roll out the red carpet for corporate giants like Google, Blackrock, GSK, and Aviva, was clearly designed to trumpet that Britain is “open for business” under new management. But scratch beneath the surface, and the glittering promises start to lose their shine.
The money included:
- £10bn for an AI data centre in Blyth, Northumbria.
- £21.7bn on carbon capture over 25 years – kicking the climate crisis can down the road, one billion at a time.
- £24bn on “clean energy” – courtesy of Spanish-owned Scottish Power.
- £3bn on transport infrastructure, including DP World investing up to £1bn in its London Gateway container port operation. Manchester Airports Group is investing more than £1.1bn in London Stansted airport.
- £27.8bn in public investment – or as cynics might call it, reshuffling money we already had.
Labour is patting itself on the back, boasting that their £63bn haul dwarfs the paltry £39bn scraped together by Sunak’s party last year. But let’s not forget – a sizeable chunk of this “new investment” was already in the pipeline long before Labour’s summit extravaganza.
The right-leaning Telegraph couldn’t swallow the hype, labelling the summit a “triumph of style over substance” . And Private Eye pointed out that that neither the wind farms nor data centres “generates large numbers of skilled jobs” with the government “claiming over 35,000 will be created over the coming years. The business department estimates that last year – by no means a stand-out one – investment by foreign companies created 71,500 jobs.”
We have no idea how many of these investments were genuinely sparked by the summit, versus conveniently timed announcements to make the government look good.
As for the impact on government departments? They’re left twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the much-leaked budget on Wednesday to reveal Labour’s true colours on taxes, spending, and borrowing. Will it be austerity 2.0, or a spending spree?
In the end, this investment summit feels less like an economic breakthrough and more like a masterclass in spin. Labour may be popping the champagne, but the rest of us are left wondering if we’ve just witnessed a £63bn illusion. Only time will tell if these grand promises materialise into tangible benefits for the British people.