BRIGHTON -- Britain's opposition Labour Party will lay out on Tuesday a multi-billion-pound package to boost development of electric cars and battery technology, promising to create tens of thousands of jobs and safeguard the automotive industry.
Labour is hoping to win power from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party at an expected early election, capitalizing on the political unrest caused by the country's divisive exit from the European Union.
The Labour Party is using its annual conference in the English resort of Brighton to lay out plans to transform the British economy, promoting higher government spending and a large public investment program.
On Tuesday, the party will pledge to invest 3 billion pounds ($3.73 billion) with automakers in return for a stake in their companies if they use the money to develop new electric car models and technology.
It will also promise more than 2 billion pounds to help finance half the cost of building three new battery factories - a leading part of the growing EV industry.
"The automotive sector is one of the UK's industrial success stories. However, the sector is under siege from Brexit uncertainty and the government's lack of ambition on electrification," Labour's business policy chief Rebecca Long-Bailey said in a statement.
"If we want our automotive sector to flourish, we need a government who is not afraid to intervene."
