Minister pledges support to pottery industry

The government has insisted it wants to support Stoke-on-Trent's pottery industry despite there being no mention of it in Wednesday's Spending Review.

Industry Minister Sarah Jones said the sector was "crucial" to the UK and the government was exploring how it could support it as part of the upcoming industrial strategy.

Her statement came as ceramics firms have been hit by rising energy costs and falling sales, with companies like Moorcroft and Royal Stafford collapsing earlier this year.

During a visit to manufacturer GE Vernova's factory in Stafford on Thursday, Jones told BBC Radio Stoke that the government would be "honing in" on how it can support struggling sectors.

"We are wanting to support big growth-driving sectors like advanced manufacturing, like defence, like clean energy but also foundational industries that we need, to feed into those to make sure we're making things here in the UK," she said.

The Labour minister said she had had several meetings with MPs from Stoke-on-Trent as well as ceramics industry leaders and knew how important it was to the city.

"We know they've been struggling with a number of different challenges and we want to see if we can maintain and support as much as we can," she added.

Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, told BBC Radio Stoke he was "disappointed" that Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not give more details of the industrial strategy during her speech on Wednesday.

He called on ministers to make sure there was "a lot of meat on the bone" when they announce their strategy in two weeks.

"If we do get to a point where it's another 'here's what we're going to do but more details to follow' then, rightly, everyone will be angry that we won't have delivered on what we need to," he said.

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