Kwasi Kwarteng, then business secretary, spoke at the Stellantis Ellesmere Port car plant when it was announced it would make electric vehicles in 2021 The Government’s “erratic conduct” of UK industrial policy has confused business and been bad for investment in theUK should not attempt to compete in a subsidy race
Subsidies have a mixed record of success, the report warns further. “Decisions by the multinationals will be determined as much by their overall view of business conditions in the UK, including the availability of skills and the market for their products, as by direct government support,” it says. The report, by the Policy Exchange think-tank, said Rishi Sunak had committed to making the UK “one of the best locations in the world for the manufacture of” but added: “How that ambition is to be achieved, and whether it implies more generous support for gigafactories, remains unclear.”