Factory closures highlight the turbulent shift to a green economy, exposing political challenges and the urgent need for a equitable move to net zero

One of the biggest political battles of the future began to take shape in 2024, yet it did not centre on Westminster. Instead, try Grangemouth in central Scotland, Port Talbot in south Wales and Luton in the south of England. Their stories were not front-page staples, but each was of huge significance – locally, nationally and economically.

Grangemouth is Scotland’s sole oil refinery, whose owners confirmed in September that it would shut, to be replaced by a terminal taking in imported fuel – with nearly 400 workers losing their jobs. In the last days of September, the only remaining blast furnace at Port Talbot was shut down, as part of a restructuring that will cost 2,800 employees their jobs. At the end of November, staff at Vauxhall in Luton were told the plant would shut, ending 120 years of the carmaker’s association with the town and putting between 1,100 and 2,000 jobs at risk. One result was two days of protests in the town a week before Christmas.