Talking Politics column with Kate Dearden MP: Reindustrialising Britain
In Halifax, we have a proud industrial heritage. Our streets are lined with homes built for generations of mill, confectionery and machinery workers, and many families have relatives who worked at well-known local businesses such as Dean Clough, Webster’s Brewery and Mackintosh’s, whose confectionery legacy lives on today.
Industry is part of who we are, just as our thriving arts and cultural sectors have helped to continue to put Halifax on the map, attracting visitors and showcasing our town to the world.
Today, these strengths sit alongside our food, engineering and textile manufacturers, creating fresh opportunities for our local economy. But we must ensure that growth translates into good jobs, secure livelihoods and the same sense of pride and purpose that generations of industrial workers found in making products exported around the world.
The Prime Minister has been clear: we must reindustrialise Britain to seize the opportunities of new technology, restore pride in work and create meaningful opportunities for young people in working-class towns like Halifax. We should no longer accept the idea that Britain does not make things any more. We need to back British industry, invest in skills and create the stable, secure jobs that the next generation deserves.
On my recent visit to Elland Steel, based in Highroad Well, I came away optimistic. This local steel fabrication business is keen to invest in training, recruit local people and create opportunities for young people. It is exactly the kind of business we should be backing: one that wants to grow here, invest in our community and build a skilled local workforce.
Mark Denham, director of Elland Steel, was clear that we must give businesses like his the confidence, support and flexibility they need to invest, train and grow.
As Halifax’s MP and Minister of State for the Future of Work in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, I am determined to ensure local businesses have a voice in shaping the policies that affect them.
That is why I have worked across government to explore how we can help businesses like Elland Steel develop in-house training programmes that tackle youth unemployment and equip local people with the skills employers need. I have also organised a roundtable for local steel businesses to meet Blair McDougall MP, the Minister for Reindustrialisation, so they can directly make the case for what Halifax needs to benefit from Britain’s industrial renewal.
This builds on my work to secure a new Youth Employment Hub in our town centre, helping the 920 unemployed 18–24-year-olds in Halifax and Sowerby Bridge build the confidence and skills they need to get into work, and strengthening Calderdale College, who's dedicated lecturers, teachers and staff play a vital role in developing the technical skills and talent our local economy needs.
This is Labour at its best: backing businesses to grow, investing in skills and creating secure, rewarding work. Halifax has the industrial heritage, the creative energy, the talent and the ambition to help lead Britain’s reindustrialisation. Our job is to turn that potential into opportunity and a brighter future for local people.