The Chancellor of the Exchequer visited a global leader in renewable energy in Hull today to discuss how green jobs will drive the UK’s future economy and recovery from the pandemic.

To mark six months until Glasgow hosts the COP26 climate conference, Rishi Sunak visited Siemens Gamesa, who are planning to double the size of their site in Hull and create 250 green jobs.

During a tour of the factory, he met apprentices and operatives manufacturing wind turbines, before viewing the first blade due to be sent off to Hornsea Two next week off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea. Once completed, it will be the world’s largest offshore windfarm and will power 1.3 million households.

The Chancellor discussed the Prime Minister’s £12bn Ten Point Plan to build back better through a green industrial revolution that will see 250,000 jobs created across the UK and could unlock three times as much private investment.

In the Humber, the government is investing tens of millions to upgrade the port for offshore wind, creating 3,000 new jobs and putting the region at the heart of our world-leading offshore wind industry.

Humber has also been awarded freeport status, which will attract more private investment in green industries and boost the local economy – helping deliver the government’s commitment to level up the UK.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said:

The UK is the largest producer of offshore wind energy in the world, and we are putting the Humber at the heart of our green recovery.

That is why we are investing tens of millions of pounds to create over 3,000 new jobs to upgrade the new port for offshore wind, as well as granting it freeport status to attract green investment.

With six months to go until the UK hosts COP26 in Glasgow, it is clear that the Humber will play a critical role as we lead the world in building back better and greener from the pandemic.

Clark MacFarlane, UK Managing Director at Siemens Gamesa, said:

It’s been a pleasure for us at Siemens Gamesa to be part of Chancellor Sunak’s visit to Hull. As the UK’s leading supplier of Wind Turbines and investor in UK jobs, it’s been great for us to showcase our state of the art facility, pioneering technology and our people who help us to drive and achieve our aims, especially during these unprecedented times.

Siemens Gamesa is a global technology leader in the renewable energy industry – specifically in the development, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind turbines. They have been a pioneer in renewables since the 1980s and their factory in Hull, based in Alexandra Dock, first opened for production in September 2016.

On 12 May 2021, at Norwich Magistrates Court, Colin Barnes, of CT Barnes Autos admitted storing end of life motor vehicles and car parts illegally.

The end of life motor vehicles were stored with tyres, gear boxes and suspension units at his site in Podmore Lane, Scarning.

Deferring sentence until November 2021, Magistrates warned Barnes that failure to clear the site within the next five months, could mean a prison sentence.

Despite repeated advice from Environment Agency officers on the safe and legal storage of waste, Barnes continued to stockpile scrap vehicles over a 14-month period. In carrying out this illegal operation he caused serious risk to the public and the environment.

Environment Agency prosecutor, Sarah Dunne told the court that Barnes, 64, had been given every opportunity to clear the waste. The Environment Agency had agreed to extend the clearance deadline on four occasions and made significant allowances for the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Environment Agency Officers first visited the site in November 2019. They issued advice on the safe and legal storage of waste and gave Mr Barnes a timescale to clear the site.

Despite this advice, visiting the site on no less than ten occasions and issuing a statutory notice to clear the waste, scrap vehicles and parts remained dangerously and illegally stockpiled on the site.

Many of the vehicles and engines at the site contained fuel, brake and clutch fluid, batteries and tyres with a significant risk of fire and explosion. Site inspections found oils and fuel on the open ground with the risk of contamination to ground and surface water.

Environmental Crime Officer Tom Howard said:

Storing waste illegally meant that Mr Barnes was able to operate at a commercial advantage, undermine legitimate businesses and put the environment at real risk. The Magistrates’ stance sends a powerful message to those prepared to operate an illegal waste business.

UK government staff around the world are set to complete a unique 24-hour global marathon relay to help mental health charities across the world.

Diplomats and other overseas staff working for the UK government, as well their Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office colleagues in the UK, and their families, will take part to raise funds for mental health charities, including Mind in the UK.

The Globalmile challenge is a repeat of the DiploMile challenge first completed last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staff from more than 230 British embassies, high commissions, governors’ offices and consulates – from Vancouver in the west to Samoa in the east; from Wellington in the south to Reykjavik in the north – will take part. This follows the effort of 158 posts, which took part in the first year of the event.

Saturday’s Globalmile starts at 9am on Saturday in Apia, Samoa (9pm on Friday night in the UK). It will finish at 1pm in Vancouver, Canada (9pm on Saturday in the UK).

Two Foreign Office ministers – the Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton and Minister for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly – will join in.

Ambassadors to Moscow, Berlin, Brazil, Tel Aviv and Nairobi are also taking part, as well as the Foreign Office’s most senior diplomat, Permanent Under Secretary Sir Philip Barton.

Participants at each post will each run or walk a mile, before video-conferencing or tweeting with the next mission to pass the virtual baton on – sending it through the 24 time-zones over the course of a day.

The global marathon is the brainchild of Dr Ian Collard, Ambassador-designate to Lebanon, and his wife Tamara, who as part of the Diplomatic Service Families Association supports British diplomatic families overseas.

In 2020, with global flight restrictions, Ian’s previous assignment in Afghanistan meant a 3,500-mile separation from Tamara and their children, which forced them to find creative ways to stay united as a family during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pair knew their situation was not unique in the department, then the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, before its merger with the Department for International Development last September.

The Collards decided the marathon would be a good way to unite the department, and its families, and improve mental and physical wellbeing. It would also allow staff to virtually connect with their colleagues while social distancing measures were in place.

Last year’s inaugural event went so well, raising more than £50,000 for charity, it is running again this year.

Dr Collard said:

After the success of our global marathon in 2020, demand was high to undertake an even bigger Globalmile in 2021. The COVID-19 outbreak sadly continues and has meant a shift in the way diplomats – like many others – are communicating, engaging and operating, particularly with new technologies. Globalmile makes best use of those ways of engaging.

Last year’s event was an incredible boost to all those who took part and we are pleased to be able to raise money again for charity, this year to support mental health initiatives.

Embassies across the world are raising funds for local charities, and Ian and Tamara have set up a Virgin Money Giving for donations to the UK’s mental health charity Mind.

Dr Collard added:

As staff of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, our day job is to serve our country including by safeguarding and promoting our values overseas and being a force for good in the world.

Doing so as a newly merged development and diplomacy department makes our role – and the expansion of Globalmile – even more exciting.