Clegg wants jobs for British wind turbine workers

Thursday, 11 February 2010 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

Nick Clegg wants expansion of Britain's offshore wind energy capacity to be converted into extra jobs in disused shipyards.

The Liberal Democrat leader is appalled that 90 per cent of the £1.75 billion contract for a wind farm off the Kent coast has gone to foreign contractors.

He wants investment in infrastructure for a green economy to help tackle the country's unemployment problems.

"New off-shore turbines, with blades the size of the London Eye, need to be built and launched from modern docks, so we need to upgrade our shipyards to take advantage of this massive opportunity," he said.

"Just imagine the docks and shipyards along the coastline of Britain coming to life and leading the world in this new technology."

The Lib Dem manifesto is set to include a pledge to create 57,000 new jobs by investing £400 million in upgrading disused shipyards to enable the production of offshore wind turbines.

Tags:
• domestic policy
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• energy
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• environment