Unite General Secretary slams Ed Miliband over 'failed' net-zero goal after 125 more job losses
"We've got to save the jobs and back British workers"
Unite’s General Secretary has accused the government of betraying workers after 125 jobs were put at risk at the Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire.
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Speaking to LBC’s Natasha Clarke, Sharon Graham said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband had “failed” and called for Sir Keir Starmer to step in directly to prevent a second oil refinery closure “under his watch.”
“The Labour government have let down these workers, there's absolutely no doubt about that,” she said.
“How can we have a situation where a second oil refinery in Britain closes in less than a year? What the government needs to do is move Ed Miliband out of the way and get Keir Starmer involved in this to look at the bids that are on the table.”
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The Unite leader argued that ministers had ignored rescue offers for the refinery
“These workers have been given redundancy notices when they haven't even looked at the bids,” she said.
“If these jobs go - we'll be importing more fuel. What is the point of doing that? We've got to save the jobs and back British workers.”
Pressed on whether Mr Miliband should be sacked, Ms Graham replied: “Normally I wouldn't get into the personalities of this, but Ed Miliband has failed. Somebody else needs to take over this role.”
She also attacked the government’s net zero strategy, describing it as a “disaster zone.”
“My members have got no problem with net zero, but it must be a workers' transition. What is the point of having net zero and no jobs?” she said.
Ms Graham contrasted the handling of the refinery with support for other industries, such as Jaguar Land Rover and British Steel, saying government decisions were “piecemeal” and lacked a proper industrial strategy.
She urged Sir Keir to use his party conference speech to lay out a clear plan for jobs and investment.
“I want him to say how he's going to back British jobs, how he's going to back British workers,” she said.
“We cannot be bean-counting at this point. We need to back Britain.”
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "Our thoughts are with the workers, their families and the community who have been badly let down by Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery's owners.
“The Official Receiver has made this independent decision now in order to provide employees with as much notice as possible, while concluding the sales process in the coming weeks.
"The majority of the workforce will be retained beyond the end of October and we remain hopeful that a solution will be found that supports jobs on the site long-term.
“The Official Receiver is independently assessing potential bids for the future of the refinery and its assets and has made clear he will continue to work with all bidders with credible and deliverable proposals.
"We have taken immediate action to fund a Training Guarantee for refinery workers to support them to find new, secure, long-term jobs, including in the growing clean energy workforce. Employees affected by redundancy will have the opportunity to enrol in this scheme from October.”
Speaking to John Stratford on LBC News, Graham Stringer, Labour MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said: "I think that extreme language, calling them racists... it not only creates a reaction, it motivates some of their supporters and potential supporters who don't believe they're racist, who want to vote for something different... So that side of the speech I don't think works.
"I think he should send Andy Burnham a 'thank you' note because I think Andy's intervention actually helped in the hall gain support for the Prime Minister in a way that he probably would have been more fractious had they not thought that Andy's intervention was unhelpful and disloyal. So in that sense, Andy was a help."