Britain has a chance to compete in the green industrial revolution, but only if the government takes rapid steps to help shore up its industry, according to an important new report.

The analysis from The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank reveals that while the UK has deindustrialised faster than any other comparable nation in the developed world, it still has a chance to rebuild its manufacturing base and compete on the green technologies needed to reach net zero.

The new report comes as countries around the world compete to dominate green technologies such as electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines.

On Tuesday, the White House imposed 100% tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, as well as 50% tariffs on Chinese solar panels. The US and China have both introduced vast subsidy schemes intended to buoy up their green manufacturing.

In the UK, despite various government pledges to “level up” and introduce “industrial strategy” schemes, there is nothing analogous to the schemes in the US, China or, for that matter, the EU.

An advantage in certain sectors

The new IPPR analysis is among the first attempts to pinpoint which sectors in Britain’s economy have a chance of competing on a global basis. It finds that while the UK has indeed deindustrialised far more quickly than other G7 nations, it still has a comparative advantage in certain sectors.

These include the manufacture of heat pumps, wind turbines and green transport, including electric cars and trains.

The analysis will be closely watched, as the IPPR is seen as the leading left-leaning thinktank in the UK, with close links to the Labour Party. Although Rachel Reeves has ditched her party’s pledge to increase green investment to £28bn, she and her colleagues are understood to be eagerly awaiting the IPPR report as she builds her own plan for UK industry.

George Dibb, IPPR’s associate director for economic policy, said: “We’ve identified over 150 different products that are vital to the net zero transition. The UK already has a competitive edge in various of them compared to other countries. So we need to take those but we need to build on that to need to go further.

“We highlight three areas in particular: heat pumps, green transport, and wind. In those three sectors – that’s where the UK economy is particularly well placed to take advantage of those future facing growth opportunities.

He added: “There’s a race towards net zero. The US, Europe and China are all fighting it out for this investment. Companies need to know the UK is a place to go. So one of the things that we need [from the government] is a real industrial strategy.”

The political reaction

Labour’s shadow secretary for energy security and net zero, Ed Miliband, said: “With our abundant natural resources, Britain can be a world leader in green industries. But we are being let down by a clown car government that is letting jobs go overseas and waving the white flag for British industries.

“Labour says it is time for a new era of industrial policy- we unapologetically care about what Britain makes, where we make it, and how we make it. That is why we will set up GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company, and a National Wealth Fund to invest in rebuilding the strength of our national industries.”

Landlords have been accused of “holding parliament hostage” with the threat of selling up to stop tenants’ rights from being strengthened.

A fresh row erupted on the eve of the controversial Renters Reform Bill coming to the House of Lords for its second reading, as one landlord group warned of a supply crisis in the private sector.

Analysis of government data by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) found that in the last six months of 2023, 45% of people in need of homeless prevention support said the reason was because the property owner planned to sell.

This was more than twice as much as the next most common reason, which was landlords planning to re-let the property.

Separately, data from Rightmove found that 50,000 rental properties are needed to bring the supply of rental homes back to pre-pandemic levels.

The NRLA said landlords need “confidence to stay in the market” and warned peers against attempting to strengthen the reform bill to give renters more rights, after MPs in the Commons watered it down.

They said the data comes in the wake of concerns being raised by campaign group Generation Rent, who have warned that landlords selling up is a leading cause of homelessness.

But Generation Rent accused the NRLA of “cynically” using their concerns “to hold parliament hostage to the idea that they will sell up over even the smallest strengthening of tenants’ rights”.

Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Long term, if landlords sell up it makes little difference to the housing market.

“Bricks and mortar do not sink into the ground, and the home could be bought by another landlord, a first-time buyer or even repurposed for social housing.

“There will always be some landlords wanting to sell, for example because they are retiring or because their mortgages have become too costly.”

‘Relocation relief required for renters’

Mr Twomey said the short-term issue is that “tenants have an appalling lack of protection when landlords choose to sell up”.

He called on ministers to incentivise homes being sold to existing tenants if they can afford to buy, or incentivise selling homes with sitting tenants so they can stay in the property if it changes ownership to a new landlord.

The campaign group also want landlords to be prevented from selling a property for two years after a tenancy has begun, and a relocation relief for renters evicted through no fault of their own so they don’t need to pay for the final two months rent while they look for a new home.

Why are landlords selling up?

The NRLA said there are various reasons for landlords selling up but the key issues are growing costs and uncertainty over the Renters Reform bill.

The legislation, intended to redress the power balance between renters and landlords, has been mired in delay and controversy with the government heavily criticised for diluting some of its flagship proposals, including the ban on no-fault evictions.

First promised by the Tories five years ago, the ban has been delayed indefinitely pending court reforms, in what has widely been seen as a concession to landlords.

Read more:
Almost one million renters given no-fault evictions
More than 100 MPs earn over £10,000 a year as landlords

Peers urged to ‘rescue’ reform bill

The Renters Reform Coalition, which includes Generation Rent, has called on peers to “rescue this watered down bill”, saying it is a failure in its current form and “will preserve the central power imbalance at the root of why renting in England is in crisis”.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈

The RCC want a package of reforms including the end of no-fault evictions, four months’ notice when they are evicted rather than two and limiting in-tenancy rent increases in line with inflation or wage growth.

As well as insecure tenancies, renters are facing soaring rents and poor conditions amid a wider housing crisis which at its heart is a problem of insufficient supply and spiralling affordability.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, acknowledged the wider problems and said that “all parties need to accept widespread calls for policies to boost supply in the private rented sector”.

He added: “Landlords selling up is the single biggest challenge renters face. The only answer is to ensure responsible landlords have the confidence to stay in the market and sustain tenancies.

“As peers debate the Renters (Reform) Bill, it is vital that it works for landlords as well as tenants. As it stands it would achieve this balance. We are calling on peers to support the Bill to give the sector certainty about the future.”

A new twist in the safety crisis engulfing Boeing could see the airline prosecuted over the 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that left 346 people dead.

It was revealed late on Tuesday that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed a case accusing the planemaker of breaching its obligations in a 2021 agreement that shielded Boeing from criminal prosecution over the crashes.

Then, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5bn to resolve the investigation into its conduct, compensate victims’ relatives and overhaul its compliance practices.

The terms of that deal – known as a deferred prosecution agreement – were due to expire in January this year but, two days beforehand, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a mid-air panel blowout.

The blowout has been the subject of multi-agency investigations, including by the DoJ.

Its court filing exposes Boeing to a potential criminal prosecution over the 2018 and 2019 crashes that could carry further steep financial penalties and tougher oversight, deepening the renewed corporate crisis and reputational damage stemming from the January blowout.

The DoJ said that while Boeing was now subject to prosecution, it would consider steps the planemaker has taken to address and remediate violation of the pact before determining how to proceed.

It ordered the company to respond by mid-June and said it would make a decision on whether to proceed with a fresh criminal case by 7 July.

“We believe that we have honoured the terms of that agreement and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this issue,” Boeing said in a statement.

It added: “As we do so, we will engage with the Department with the utmost transparency, as we have throughout the entire term of the agreement, including in response to their questions following the Alaska Airlines 1282 accident.”

The Reuters news agency reported that DoJ officials were to meet families of those killed in the 2018 and 2019 crashes as part of their deliberations.

Relatives have long been critical of the original deferred prosecution agreement, claiming it let Boeing off the hook.

The MAX 8 fleet was withdrawn from service for 20 months in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 disaster outside Addis Ababa in March 2019.

All 157 on board were killed.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Six months earlier, a Lion Air 737 MAX 8, carrying 189 passengers and crew, had crashed in Indonesia.

Poorly designed flight control software was ultimately blamed for both accidents.

The 5 January MAX 9 incident of this year resulted in a new wave of scrutiny.

Regulators have limited Boeing’s production schedules and a widespread management shake-up is under way.

The knock-on effects of the crisis have harmed deliveries and the expansion plans of its customers, which include Ryanair.

The planemaker, and regulators, have been widely accused of failing to learn lessons of the past.

During a Senate hearing in April, a Boeing engineer testified the company took dangerous manufacturing shortcuts with certain planes and sidelined him when he raised safety concerns.

Boeing has denied the claims and any suggestion that it has put profits before safety.