Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, is celebrating the Chancellor's announcement of Freeport status for the East Midlands in today's Budget.

This marks the culmination of over a year of local and national campaigning, alongside Ruth Edwards MP and Mark Fletcher MP, as well as other stakeholders across the East Midlands, including the East Midlands Chamber.

The Freeport will be the UK's best connected, the greenest and generate 60,000 new skilled jobs in the region, turbocharging the local economy.

The Freeport will be centred on three main sites:

• The East Midlands Airport Gateway and Industrial Cluster (EMAGIC), located around the UK's largest freight airport at East Midlands Airport.

• Uniper's site at Ratcliffe on Soar, where the existing coal-fired power station will be decommissioned and replaced with a zero-carbon technology and energy hub.

• The East Midlands Intermodal Park (EMIP), which will become a next-generation, railconnected business park with links to the rest of the country and beyond.

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The East Midlands Freeport will enjoy the unique intersection of air, rail and road connectivity, with

excellent links to major deep-sea ports elsewhere in the country.

The government says the Freeport will play a key role

in the levelling-up of the region, with the economic, environmental and employment benefits shared far beyond the Freeport site.

With the announcement of the East Midlands Freeport, which will lead growth and regeneration, 'Made in the East Midlands 'will become the hallmark of advanced manufacturing and green technology for decades to come.

Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton said:"Today is a day the East Midlands' exporters and importers will welcome. The Chancellor's announcement of the East Midland Freeport will turbocharge our region.

"60,000 new skilled jobs is the headline figure. Our businesses will be able to take advantage of exciting new export opportunities. Global Britain is a reality for Rutland and Leicestershire now.

"This is a vote of confidence in the East Midlands by our Chancellor, and will help level-up the heart of our country and ensure the East Midlands leads the way in a global, and greener, Britain."

However, the East Midlands gaining of of eight Freeports has been slammed by Lee Baron, regional secretary of the TUC.

He said: ""We are yet to be convinced that Freeports will solve the problems facing our economy as we come out of the pandemic. We will be arguing strongly that any Freeport in the East Midlands must be established on principles that promote good quality jobs and protect against opportunities for tax evasion."