Ineos chemicals plant is saved – but what is the strategy for the rest of heavy industry? | Nils Pratley

Argument for ensuring ethylene production at Grangemouth is strong, yet policymaking on deindustrialisation is disjointed

• Government invests £120m to save UK’s last ethylene plant

“Our commitment is clear: to back British industry, to stand by hardworking families, and to ensure places like Grangemouth can thrive for years to come,” said Keir Starmer as the Ineos ethylene plant on the Firth of Forth was saved for the nation with the help of £120m of public money.

Is the commitment clear, though? What, precisely, does the prime minister mean by “places like Grangemouth”? Which heavy industries and plants is the government pledging to shield from the forces of sky-high energy prices and carbon taxes? Is there a strategy here? Or does intervention happen only at the 11th hour when an important plant is threatened with imminent closure and ministers panic about knock-on consequences?