TUC calls for urgent support for at risk manufacturers as Trump’s illegal war piles on pressure
- The TUC is today (Saturday) calling for a targeted emergency package to support jobs in key industries - both those which are gas dependent and those in need of support from the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
- Trumpflation is putting already-struggling sectors like chemicals, glass and ceramics under further pressure - with potential impacts for thousands of jobs.
- Alongside immediate support, the TUC calls for wider structural change and investment, to fix the foundations so that industry doesn’t bear the brunt of future price spikes
The TUC is today (Saturday) calling for a targeted emergency package to protect at-risk manufacturers like chemicals, ceramics and glass from the effects of Trump’s illegal war, saying “Trump’s war must not put jobs in critical industries at risk”.
In the face “Trumpflation” sending gas and energy prices soaring, the TUC argues today that urgent support is needed to protect energy intensive sectors from the economic damage of the war – which could have impacts for thousands of jobs.
The call comes after the OECD warns the UK faces the biggest hit to growth from the Middle East war of all G20 economies.
Emergency measures for most at-risk industries
Immediate support should be focused on the most-at risk businesses to protect key UK manufacturing sectors, the TUC says.
Gas intensive businesses are the most immediately exposed in the current energy crisis. The union body is therefore calling for a temporary targeted gas price cap to stabilise the price of gas for critical industries. This would target sectors where gas accounts for at least 70% of energy demand (like ceramics), or at least 70% of raw materials.
As the effects of the war flow through to higher electricity prices for industry, the TUC is also calling for the government to urgently speed up its energy price support scheme (the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme - BICS) and make sure it reaches the manufacturing sites that need it the most. Many manufacturers (beyond those in gas-intensive industries) were already struggling before the crisis hit, and are now in even more need of support.
Fix the foundations to prevent future crises
Support must also go beyond the immediate crisis, the TUC argues. The UK has been at the “mercy of global gas markets for too long”. With an unstable President in the White House, and increasing volatility across the globe, British households and businesses cannot afford to be “lurching from crisis to crisis”.
Alongside immediate-term support, the UK desperately needs structural change and investment so that industry doesn’t bear the brunt of future gas price spikes. This will also mean there is less need for government to step in during each crisis.
The TUC is calling for government to de-link electricity prices from gas – to move the UK from being a price-taker to a price-maker, radically increase UK gas storage capacity, and accelerate investment in energy efficiency and electrification upgrades.
These proposals to reform the UK’s energy system and market design and to upgrade UK industry will reduce the UK’s industrial vulnerability to external crises, boost long-term resilience of our domestic industries, and help protect goods job for the long-run. Fixing the foundations of our energy market would support not just gas-intensive industries, but wider manufacturing like steel, metal and paper.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
“Already struggling before the war, Trumpflation has sent gas prices soaring further piling the pressure on some of Britain’s key industries like chemicals, ceramics and glass.
”Trump’s war must not put jobs in critical industries at risk.
“The government should urgently bring forward a temporary targeted gas price cap, to stabilise the price of gas for critical industries and protect UK manufacturing, and speed up the energy price support scheme making sure it reaches crucial sectors.
“Smart government action can stop us lurching from crisis to crisis. The UK has been at the mercy of global gas markets for too long.
“Now is the time to fix the foundations, reducing the UK’s vulnerability to global gas price shocks, boosting resilience of key industries, and protecting good jobs for the long-run.”
Chief Executive of Make UK Stephen Phipson said:
“The war in Iran has highlighted vulnerabilities in the UK energy market that have been evident for some time and have not been addressed, the more that action is delayed the greater the risk of rapid deindustrialisation.
“This now requires, urgent, efficient, and substantive action to bring down the cost of energy for industry as the clock is now approaching midnight for many companies.
This must start with the immediate implementation of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to all manufacturers otherwise we could face a rapid unravelling of British industry.
ENDS
- Gas prices have more than doubled since late February and are already driving up many businesses’ bills: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/19/oil-prices-gas-prices-rise-iran-israel-donald-trump
- The UK has significantly less gas storage capacity compared to other European countries – around a tenth of the Netherlands’ and a sixth of France and Germany: https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Fuelling-the-Future-gas-storage-and-energy-security.pdf
- The OECD has warned the UK faces the biggest hit to growth from the Middle East war of all G20 economies: https://www.ft.com/content/d4cbb7d7-22d9-431a-a720-762f4ece3cdf?syn-25a6b1a6=1
The TUC is calling for:
- Immediate support for gas intensive industries through for a temporary targeted gas price cap, to stabilise the price of gas for critical industries. This would target sectors where gas accounts for at least 70% of energy demand (like ceramics), or at least 70% of input materials. A temporary targeted gas price cap could be implemented through a contract-for-difference style mechanism, where government sets a maximum “strike price” for gas purchased by eligible industrial users and compensates suppliers for the difference when wholesale prices exceed that level. Eligibility would be tightly defined to focus support on genuinely exposed sectors—such as ceramics and certain chemicals—where gas accounts for at least 70% of total energy demand or constitutes a critical raw material input.
- Support for other manufacturing that will start to feel the pinch as energy prices surge beyond gas. The TUC is calling on the government to urgently speed up its energy price support scheme (the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme) and make sure it reaches the manufacturing sites that need it the most. At the moment, some of the most exposed industries, like ceramics, chemicals and glass are risk bring excluded. If the scheme is designed to exclusively support those parts of manufacturing industry that directly supply the Industrial Strategy ‘frontier industries’.
The TUC is calling for BICS to be brought forward to 2026, and crucially, for the scheme to apply to foundational industries in their own right, beyond those that directly supply the frontier industries within the Industrial Strategy sectors (IS-8).
To fix the foundations to prevent future crises the TUC is calling for:
De-link electricity prices from gas. The UK needs to move from being a price-taker to a price-maker, to shield households and firms from global price shocks. However the current trajectory for decoupling electricity prices and gas prices through ramping up renewables is too slow. The government should reform the energy market to de-link electricity prices from gas. While all options are complex and will take time to implement, severing the tie between gas and electricity prices is critical to protect UK economy against the ricochet of price shocks.
Radically increase UK gas storage capacity. The UK has significantly less gas storage capacity compared to other European countries – around a tenth of the Netherlands’ and a sixth of France and Germany – leaving us more vulnerable to global price shocks. The government should expand UK gas storage capacity, including storing state-owned gas, to enable the government to sell off stored gas at a pre-spike price in times of crisis.
Accelerate investment into energy efficiency and electrification upgrades. To enable sites to significantly reduce their dependency on gas in the longer term the government should unlock capital investment in energy efficiency upgrades and electrification technology adoption in manufacturing industry. This should be delivered through a combination of the National Wealth Fund, British Business Bank, and UK Emissions Trading Scheme revenue.
- About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.3 million working people who make up our 47 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
Contacts:
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