John Healey given stark warning over promise to re-industrialise Britain as Labour set lofty goals

John Healey given stark warning over promise to re-industrialise Britain as Labour set lofty goals

The Government must restore confidence within the construction industry if it wants to re-industrialise the nation, a trade body warns in an open letter to the Chancellor. New figures showed that sales of ready-mixed concrete were down 9.3 per cent from this time last year, with mortar sales, which closely track new housing starts, dropping by 5.1 per cent. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to re-industrialise the country under his leadership. Labour still plans to build 1.5 million homes during this administration. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say But trade body the Mineral Products Association, whose members provide the raw materials for building projects, says that, within the sector, there is “currently zero confidence to invest in people, sites or equipment for the future”. It warns that, despite Government promises to boost housebuilding and accelerate infrastructure delivery, “activity on the ground continues to move in the opposite direction”. In an open letter to Chancellor John Healey, MPA chief executive, Paul Adeleke, said that domestic cement production was at 1950s levels, while sales of ready-mixed concrete were “at levels last seen in the 1960s”. He writes: “Given the scale of this continuing decline, industrial capacity is now being lost. Plants are being mothballed, drivers are being taken off the road as trucks sit idle and skilled people are being made redundant. “There is currently zero confidence to invest in people, sites or equipment for the future. This has to change. “Without MPA members, nothing in your manifesto gets built, and nothing in the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority pipeline gets delivered. “That’s why this long-term decline is so concerning - aspirations of building enough houses, schools and hospitals, or modernising infrastructure in the future will become even harder to realise. “As you look towards your first Budget, it is essential that our industry can have the confi