More than 40 progressive economists have written to Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite union, rejecting her claim that Ed Miliband would destroy jobs if he becomes the next chancellor and urging her to withdraw the remarks. The open letter, signed by academics including Kate Pickett, author of The Spirit Level; Danny Dorling, a geographer; Daniela Gabor, a professor of economics at SOAS University of London; and James Meadway from the Verdant thinktank, argues that the climate transition is one of the largest drivers of industrial job creation in the UK economy.
The economists wrote that the net zero economy generates output worth over £100bn and employs over a million workers, a number they said will grow further as the sector expands. “The workers driving the green transition need union representation, good wages and champions in government,” they added. “There is no alternative to the green transition. The effects of climate change are with us now. Miliband is right to oppose further expansion of North Sea oil and gas.”
Other signatories include Howard Reed, director of Landman Economics; Ann Pettifor, an author and campaigner; and Jo Michell, a professor of economics at the University of the West of England.
The intervention is the latest development in a fierce debate within Labour about who should succeed Rachel Reeves at the Treasury as Andy Burnham is almost certain to become prime minister within weeks. Miliband is considered a frontrunner for the role. Graham told the Sunday Times that Miliband’s fierce commitment to net zero would be a “noose around the neck” of job creation. “Ed only seems to be interested in one side of the equation, rushing Britain to net zero with almost no thought for jobs, skills and national security,” she said.
Graham, whose union Unite has advocated new licences for North Sea oil and gas extraction alongside the GMB union, has also cited frustration with the closure of UK oil refineries and a lack of British jobs in the offshore wind industry.
Burnham is expected to become Labour leader on 17 July if he does not face a challenge from an alternative candidate, a scenario that has looked unlikely since Wes Streeting, the most prominent potential challenger, threw his weight behind the former Greater Manchester mayor. Streeting is among the other potential candidates for No 11 alongside Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary who was a Treasury minister in the last Labour government, and John Healey, the former defence secretary who resigned over Reeves’s failure to fully fund the defence investment plan.
Burnham has signalled he would like to oversee a significant change of direction on economic policy. His adviser Mathew Lawrence published a paper on Monday calling for an ambitious programme of renationalisation to return control of key utilities to the public sector.
Miliband used a speech at London Climate Week on Tuesday to hail the benefits of investment in green energy for jobs and growth, saying: “The UK’s clean economy is booming.”
The open letter is part of an effort by leftwing thinkers to stiffen Burnham’s resolve in the face of anxiety among some Labour MPs about the risks of spooking financial markets if Miliband gets the job as chancellor. Reeves’s Treasury has issued a slew of press releases in recent days as her team insists it is business as usual, including the nomination of Jonathan Haskel, an academic, as the next chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility and new details of the Covid fraud taskforce.