Quarter of UK summit investments 'not secured by Labour'

A quarter of the investment announced by the government at its flagship investment summit this week appears to have been secured or initiated before the Labour government came to power.

- Adam Bychawski, Eleni Courea

Ministers touted a “record-breaking” £63bn-worth of investment at the summit on Monday, when they hosted hundreds of company bosses in a showcase of the UK's policies aimed at boosting economic growth.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, trumpeted the £63bn “record-breaking investment total secured at today's summit”.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, said that “after the investments secured as part of this summit, my optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever”.

But a Guardian analysis suggests that £16.5bn of that money had been secured before the general election took place in July.

One of the most valuable investments, which was heralded in a press release by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), was a £10bn deal by the asset management firm Blackstone for a data centre in Blyth, Northumberland.

But the Northumberland county council leader, Glen Sanderson, told the Guardian that the deal was first announced by the Conservative-run council back in April. He said it came as a surprise that the government had not credited the council.