As the UK looks to embrace a greener, healthier Net Zero future, and ‘Build Back Better’ as we emerge from the Covid pandemic, East Anglia must seize the massive opportunities ahead in order to unlock its full potential.
That’s why I have signed a joint letter to the Chancellor (with a number of other MPS from Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex) calling for him to grant Freeport status to the Freeport East bid.
Our region, and particularly Norfolk, is ideally placed to play a frontline role in the ‘Green Revolution’ that the country is embarking upon, and this bid seeks to enhance that further by bringing even more jobs, skills, investment and prosperity – all the while driving us towards achieving our national Net Zero targets.
Not only could it significantly ‘level up’ the prosperity for the East of England, it could also host the UK’s first Green Hydrogen Hub – an enormous step forwards as we look to generate Clean, Green Energy and begin the process of decarbonising the highly polluting shipping industry.
With the southern North Sea about to become the world’s largest hub of offshore wind energy (and I am leading efforts alongside several Norfolk and Suffolk MPs to ensure that we have a proper integrated Offshore network for these new wind farms – to read more, please click here) and major nuclear power projects nearby, a Freeport on the Suffolk coast would create another national centre of technical excellence in East Anglia – alongside the likes of the Norwich Research Park, the Hethel Engineering Centre and the developing Food Enterprise Park at Honingham (all around Mid Norfolk), as well as the University of Cambridge and BT’s Adastral Park more widely.
The Department for International Trade already recognises the East as a High Potential Opportunity Location and, rest assured, I am committed to working with colleagues on projects to ensure that we make the most of this – to get the very best for our people and businesses AND help deliver the ‘Greener’ future we all need.
See the full letter to the Chancellor below.
