I will not sacrifice Great British industry to the drum-banging, finger-wagging Net Zero extremists

WHEN I stood in front of 10 Downing Street for the first time as Prime ­Minister, I promised to rebuild Britain in the national interest. One that puts working people first.

We cannot do that without growth and jobs — and today’s major investment puts us on that path.

We’re firing the gun on a record ­investment — our biggest so far — that will pull carbon out of the air and bury it safely underground.

This ground-breaking technology, known as Carbon Capture Usage and Storage, is a game-changer in our efforts to fulfil our legal obligations to reach Net Zero by 2050 in a sensible way, while supporting jobs and industry.

This technology captures carbon ­emissions before they reach the ­atmosphere and buries them safely — with Britain being one of the few places on Earth that can do it safely.

It sets us apart from our international competitors, attracting business and hard cash from countries around the world.

The Tories tried three times but were too mired in scandal and internal politics to deliver on it.

My changed Labour Party is putting the country first and getting on with the job. We are delivering on our mandate for change.

The tough decisions we’re taking have stabilised the economy and, in a break from the past 14 years, made investors look again at Britain.

The Budget in a few weeks’ time will be about fixing the foundations and continuing to show a decisive break from the past.

Yes, it will be about addressing the £22billion black hole in the nation’s finances, but it is also about investing in our country’s future and rebuilding Britain to make everyone better off.

Today’s announcement is the next step on that journey, creating the conditions for confident investment over the next 25 years. It is progress in action.

And, later this month, we will show that Britain is once again open for business at the International Investment Summit, securing new private sector investment in the jobs, skills and industries of the future.

But if history has taught us anything — it’s that nothing worth pursuing is easy. Blockers will always get in the way.

I know some like Extinction Rebellion will lecture me on carbon capture investment. They’ll say it isn’t the right choice.

But it’s working people who come first. Without this tech, heavy industries such as cement, glass-making and chemicals will risk having to down tools.

The Budget in a few weeks’ time will be about fixing the foundations and continuing to show a decisive break from the past

The jobs of brickies, sparkies and engineers — the backbone of Britain — will be risked.

That means fewer new homes, fewer new roads and a slow decline to the dark ages.

Sparking growth

To those drum-banging, finger-wagging extremists I say: I will never sacrifice Great British industry.

But this is a third way that brings industry with us on our path to Net Zero — while creating 4,000 jobs, reigniting our industrial heartlands and pumping £5billion into the economy every year once it is up and running.

I promised Sun readers I would invest in Britain’s future, creating jobs and sparking growth.

This is me getting on with it.