LABOUR'S upcoming industrial strategy must have a “laser focus” on jobs, the TUC has said, imploring ministers to pull out all the stops to back British jobs by investing in domestic manufacturing.

British industrial electricity prices are now at least 50 per cent more than European competitors, and four times more than in the US.

The TUC said that the strategy announcement expected next week needs to restore confidence in manufacturing industries and protect and create jobs.

Without sustained investment and forward planning, jobs in manufacturing will be lost as other countries race ahead to modernise their industries, the body warned.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “We all want to make the UK a place where manufacturing can thrive again.

“After 14 years of Tory failures, this government now has a clear mandate to deliver industrial renewal, and this is what UK voters and workers expect from our leaders.

“A bold and ambitious industrial strategy, laser focused on jobs is vital — especially in the face of global volatility and US tariffs.

“Ministers must do everything they can to back British jobs by investing in domestic manufacturing: next-generation cars, materials, clean power — and build all of this here.

“That’s how you create good-quality jobs in every corner of the country and strengthen our own supply chains.”

He added that Reform’s vows to cut all government investment in clean energy and industry “is a war on good jobs.”

A TUC survey found a 56 per cent of Brits supported government investment in manufacturing in industries such as clean steel, next generation cars and modern trains to reduce reliance on foreign imports and create jobs.