Low-tax investment zones that could be set up in the North East must lead to “genuine growth” and not damage workers’ rights, the North of Tyne mayor has warned.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Friday that the Government was in talks with almost 40 authorities in England about creating zones where businesses could be given tax cuts and relaxed planning rules, as part of a huge raft of measures in his mini-budget. Both Sunderland and the North of Tyne Combined Authority, which covers Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, were listed among the 38 locations “keen to be involved now”.
But the North of Tyne’s elected mayor, Jamie Driscoll, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he feared the zones could simply displace jobs from one area to another. The Labour metro mayor said: “This can’t bring in anything about reducing workers’ rights or environmental legislation. I would hope that nobody wants to see that.
