Union boss: Halt climate change by bringing jobs home

‘Absolutely bonkers’ for island UK to depend on imported energy | Wind energy jobs must be about more than ‘sweeping up dead birds’

- David Williamson

BRITAIN is guilty of “exporting jobs and importing virtue” by cutting emissions by outsourcing manufacturing, the head of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions has said.

And GMB General Secretary Gary Smith said the move, which he labelled “hypocrisy”, has serious consequences for jobs, economic growth, the environment and security.

“We have exported our emissions to countries such as China, who burn the coal to produce the manufactured goods that we need and then we import those goods on diesel-burning barges,” he said.

“If you are serious about climate change you need to start bringing jobs home. For too long we have exported jobs and imported virtue. Our communities have lost out.

“It is bad for the environment, makes no economic sense and no good for national security.”

In an interview at the GMB’s London headquarters, the 55-year-old warned it is “absolutely bonkers” for the UK to depend on imported energy.