And then they weren't....

That plan to establish another five Freeports.... err, seems like Labour are now saying that was never the plan & it was a 'cock up with the comms'.

So its just continuing with the current Freeports then, despite extensive evidence that they generate no new investment, just displace investment from other paces... in other words they are a scam to reduce corporations tax exposure & little else....

Reeves should have been winding them down...

#Freeports
h/t FT

#Freeports
#CCS
#Reparations (not)
#2ChildCap

As I said, #Labour's "Change" is mostly Lampedusian:
"Everything must change so everything can stay the same".

Zombie policy ahoy:

the FT is reporting, despite their lacklustre performance as engines of regional growth in the past (and when I say lacklustre, I mean negligible), another five Freeport's look like being announced next week in the budget....

When there a real polices that could be enacted, why does our political class still think Freeport's are the 'answer' to anything (other than money laundering & tax evasion..... oh wait..)

Its a policy that just won\t die

@JackTheCat Yep, just another rich man's scam with no benefit to the rest of us
#Freeports

"Critics of #freeports say there is little evidence they attract new investment or help the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility said in 2021 that tax breaks in England’s freeports would cost the government £50m a year and that their impact on GDP was likely to be so small it would be “difficult to discern even in retrospect”."

#UKpolitics #Labour

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/25/new-uk-freeports-budget-labour-starmer

You'll recall that the Tories thought freeports would be a post-Brexit boon for a newly 'independent' UK....

And, you'll like also recall that critic pointed out this had been tried before & UK companies really weren't interested.

Well, since 2021, just six firms have taken up the freeport facilities across four ports.

As Freeport's impact on the UK economy is therefore so small as to be difficult to measure at all... we can see the critics were right!

#freeports #trade

h/t FT

Given the #Tories are not going to stop #localgovernment collapsing into financial chaos, the Q. is what (if anything) do they expect to take its place?

Its unclear (to me at least) whether they think a mosaic of #freeports & enterprise zones can replace local governance, or whether they are just wrecking because they can, or whether its merely more centralising zeal, gathering power & resources in #London?

However whatever it is, the vulnerable & poor are its victims!
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/06/english-town-halls-face-unprecedented-rise-in-bankruptcies-council-leaders-warn

If you think #freeports are a #Brexit 'dividend' & will help begin to rectify the regional unbalances in the UK economy, you'll be glad to learn that #JeremyHunt is planning to extend their associated #tax holiday by 5 years (now) to 2031.

If you think they are an engine of #taxavoidance benefitting only the global #corporations setting up in their confines, then you will see this as one more example of the #Tories indulging & privileging the interests of their chums.

take your pick!

One echo of #LizTruss' weeks at the top seems to have faded; FT is reporting that #investmentzones, which Truss had wanted to proliferate widely as #Freeports & the like, will (in the budget) be scaled back to the 'normal' zones clustered round #universities & other research-intensive sites.... #JeremyHunt clearly trying on the voice-of-reason cloak here... pity, he's still draining #publicservices of money to do it

A really clear example of the lack of balance in BBC news reporting

An article about #Welsh #Freeports is 93% promotion of Freeports, plus a headline promising jobs. Only one paragraph of "critics say".

Absolutely poor reporting.

#GTTO
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64426667