The government’s new insourcing rules mark a shift in industrial policy, but the deeper work of rebuilding Britain’s productive base will not be led from Whitehall alone. Unions—rooted in workplaces, communities, and lived experience—are uniquely placed to shape a sovereign industrial strategy that restores capability, strengthens democracy, and secures the nation’s energy future.
A New Industrial Moment, and a New Responsibility
The government is finally acknowledging what unions have argued for decades: that outsourcing has weakened national resilience and hollowed out the country’s industrial core. But recognition is not leadership. The labour movement now faces a moment of opportunity—and responsibility.
Unions are not merely stakeholders in industrial strategy. They are the only institutions with:
- a direct line to the workforce
- a presence in every strategic sector
- democratic legitimacy
- long memory of past industrial decline
- and a moral commitment to the public good
This gives unions a unique vantage point from which to shape the next phase of Britain’s industrial renewal.
Why Unions Must Lead the Strategy, Not Just Respond to It
Industrial strategy is often framed as a technocratic exercise—plans, frameworks, incentives. But the real work happens in workshops, shipyards, power stations, fabrication plants, and control rooms. It happens in the hands of workers.
Unions understand:
- the skills that exist
- the skills that have been lost
- the skills that must be rebuilt
- the conditions required for safe, high‑quality work
- and the lived consequences of industrial decline
This knowledge is not abstract. It is embodied. It is practical. It is strategic.
A sovereign industrial strategy cannot be written without it.
Seven Ways Unions Can Shape Britain’s Industrial Future
1. Establish Worker‑Led Industrial Councils
Sectoral councils—co‑chaired by unions and industry—can guide long‑term planning in:
- steel
- shipbuilding
- energy infrastructure
- nuclear
- renewables
- AI and digital systems
These councils would identify capability gaps, coordinate investment, and ensure that industrial strategy is grounded in real workplace knowledge.
2. Lead a National Skills Renaissance
Unions can anchor a skills revival by:
- creating union‑led training centres
- designing apprenticeships tied to domestic content requirements
- supporting mid‑career retraining for energy transition jobs
- ensuring that new technologies come with new protections
Skills are the backbone of sovereignty. Unions are the backbone of skills.
3. Negotiate Domestic Content Agreements
Unions can push for binding commitments that:
- public contracts use British steel
- offshore wind uses British fabrication
- nuclear projects use British components
- hydrogen and storage systems are built in Britain
These agreements turn insourcing from policy into practice.
4. Champion Public Ownership Where It Matters
Unions can articulate the case for public ownership of:
- the grid
- transmission networks
- strategic generation assets
- large‑scale storage
This is not ideological. It is about resilience, planning, and democratic control.
5. Shape Regional Industrial Clusters
Unions can help design regional strategies that build on local strengths:
- the North East in offshore wind
- South Wales in steel
- Scotland in tidal and hydrogen
- the Midlands in advanced manufacturing
- Northern Ireland in shipbuilding
This ensures that industrial renewal is place‑based, not London‑centric.
6. Embed Worker Voice in Every Major Project
From procurement to design to delivery, unions can ensure:
- safe working conditions
- fair pay
- secure contracts
- high‑quality standards
- community benefit agreements
Worker voice is not a courtesy—it is a strategic asset.
7. Hold Government to Its Promises
The new insourcing rules are a beginning, not an end. Unions must:
- monitor compliance
- expose offshoring
- challenge weak enforcement
- demand transparency
- and insist that public money builds public capability
Accountability is the difference between policy and progress.
A Democratic Industrial Strategy
Industrial strategy is not simply about factories, grids, and supply chains. It is about the kind of country Britain chooses to be. A sovereign nation is one that:
- trusts its workers
- invests in its communities
- builds its own future
- and refuses to outsource its destiny
Unions are the democratic institutions best placed to articulate this vision—not as nostalgia, but as a forward‑looking project of national renewal.
The next step is deciding how boldly the labour movement wants to act.
By Pat Harrington
