Exclusive: Reindustrialisation Research Group to meet with Cabinet Office to discuss worries over PM’s long-term strategy
Labour MPs have sounded the alarm over Andy Burnham’s 10-year plan for government, raising concerns that it will not be radical or detailed enough.
MPs in the Reindustrialisation Research Group (ReRG), many of whom represent “red wall” seats that helped Labour win the last election, are meeting Sally Jameson, the Cabinet Office minister, on Wednesday to share their concerns about the prime minister’s long-term strategy.
Members of the group say they are particularly concerned about the prime minister’s commitment to reviving Britain’s heavy industries, which they say are being crushed by high energy prices and a lack of government support.
Their worries reflect wider concerns among some parts of the Labour party that Burnham’s much-vaunted plan could fall short of the high expectations the prime minister has set.
Andy MacNae, the head of the group, said: “There are a lot of gaps in the government’s reindustrialisation strategy which are not yet filled. The 10-year plan is a chance to fill them, but in the briefings we have been given that is not what we are seeing.
“We have had really good engagement from ministers, but we need to see something more constructive and we are just not seeing that at the moment.
