The general election: Message to members from Logistics UK’s CEO, David Wells

Whichever party wins Thursday’s general election, they will be faced with the challenge of fixing the UK’s low productivity and growth.

Working in partnership with the logistics sector is essential for achieving this. Logistics UK has been highlighting the importance of our sector throughout the general election campaign, as well as calling for a dedicated minister for logistics and supply chain and promoting our policy priorities.

We launched our national manifesto in January together with polling showing the public agrees on the importance of our sector. Since then, we have launched our policy priorities for the devolved nations and several English regions, and shared the 2024 Logistics Report with policy makers.

We have also written to the election candidates, and highlighted to relevant candidates that they are seeking to represent constituencies with large numbers of logistics jobs. We have engaged with key government and opposition ministers in recent months, including the Transport Secretary, Minister for Industry and Economic Security, Shadow Roads Minister and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

In collaboration with several other organisations, we wrote to all the party leaders with our priorities for the logistics sector. During the campaign, we hosted the inaugural Sir James Whitehead Address, bringing together an audience of leading policy thinkers to discuss the sector’s political and economic landscape, and emphasise the importance of logistics to kickstarting growth.

Gaining traction

All the main parties’ manifestos prioritise the economy. With the polls pointing towards a Labour government, it is particularly important for our sector that Labour’s manifesto focuses on growth and recognises the role of industrial strategy and partnering with business, long term infrastructure plans, planning reform, apprenticeship levy reform and reducing border friction with Europe – all things we are calling for. Labour is also committing to upgrade the grid to support the electrification of industry.

While this is positive, we have said that Labour needs to work with our sector on a logistics roadmap to net zero. In addition, if it is to put the end of sale date for new internal combustion engine vans back to 2030, this must be matched by a substantial improvement in measures to support the uptake of electric vans.

A key difference between the Labour and Conservative manifestos is Labour’s plan to “ban exploitative zero hours contracts,” and introduce other measures under its New Deal for Working People.

Alongside other business groups, we have made clear that the party must work with the business community on the details, to ensure they work in practice. It is therefore welcome that the manifesto commits to consult fully with businesses and others before legislating and enacting the plan.

A new government and Parliament

We are focused on ensuring that the new government and Parliament understands that our sector is vital to achieving growth and decarbonisation – and we know that getting this message across will require clarity and consistency.

Whoever wins the election, there will be a huge number of new MPs to engage with. In the first days after the general election, we will write to new ministers and MPs with our priorities for the new government’s first 100 days and first fiscal moment.

In the early autumn, we will host events at the party conferences, educating politicians about our sector and engaging with them on our shared priorities. We will also be looking to a possible Spending Review, which could set Whitehall spending plans for the next few years.

Get involved

A new government and Parliament bring the opportunity for bold policy action. To engage with that, Logistics UK will be continuing to seek fresh insight and intelligence from our members.

To support that effort, please do get involved with our Policy Councils, where members help to shape our campaign priorities.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells OBE, Chief Executive

Published On: 04/07/2024 15:00:00

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