He is visiting KMF Precision Sheet Metal

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is visiting a sheet metal manufacturer today. He is at KMF Precision Sheet Metal, in Chesterton, to discuss the impact of the energy price hike on energy intensive industries.

The facility, on High Carr Business Park, is home to one of the largest sheet metal engineering and metal fabrication companies in the UK. Sir Keir is due to meet staff and apprentices there this morning.

It comes as voters across Newcastle borough are heading to the polls next month to elect new councillors. Newcastle Borough Council will be holding all-out elections on May 5, following the move from the 'election by thirds' system four years ago.

Forty-four councillors will be elected across the 21 wards in the borough. The 2018 election ended with no single party in overall control in Newcastle and, while Labour were the largest group, with 20 seats, Conservative Simon Tagg was subsequently re-elected council leader thanks to the support of independents.

Last November, four independent councillors joined the Conservative group, giving the Tories an overall majority on the authority for the first time. There are now 23 Conservative councillors, 18 Labour, two Lib Dems and one independent.

StokeonTrentLive will be following the Labour leader throughout the day.

NEWSLETTER: Sign up for email alerts from StokeonTrentLive direct to your inbox here

"What I see here at KMF is an incredibly successful business, investing in the next generation through the apprenticeship schemes that they're doing and the skills needed for the future. But like so many businesses across Staffordshire, across the area, they're having to pay more money in national insurance as of yesterday, so that holds the business back. They've got much higher prices - that holds the business back.

"So what I think so many people, so many businesses, want to see is a government that actually shares that ambition, but what they've got is a government that is holding them back - the complete opposite of 'levelling up'."

"Local elections are always a mix of local politics and national politics, and they're a tough set of elections for any political party. There's no such thing as an easy set of elections. And I'm conscious that we need to earn every vote. And I don't take anything for granted. We've come here with a positive case with a positive team of candidates, but we've got to earn every vote.

"I do think there's widespread sort of resentment of a prime minister who told everybody to follow really difficult rules during lockdown - and every family will have an example of things that they didn't do, or a relative perhaps that they didn't see. That really, really hurt. Meanwhile, if you can believe, it in Downing Street they were having parties in breach of the rules. The prime minister said that no rules are broken, we now know there was widespread criminality and he says 'oh well, move on.' You don't move on from honesty and you don't move on from decency."

"I think it's tragic that we've got people who are literally sitting at home with extra loads of clothing or because they're too scared to put the heating on. That is a complete failure of government. These energy bills were high enough before - they then went up by hundreds of pounds for many people last week. And now we've got this image of people sitting there scared to put their heating on and where the choice between heating and eating isn't just a political slogan, it's the reality for far too many people.

"What we would do is take the excess profits that oil and gas companies have made in the North Sea because of the high global price and use that directly to reduce the energy cost by up to £600 per bill for those who need it most.

"That's the kind of practical answer that I think you need from a political party. The response from the government has been quite frankly pathetic, because they've said: 'well, you can have a loan in October' - so six months after the bill goes up - 'of about 200 pounds, but you'll have to pay it back'.

"So they're shielding oil and gas companies, whilst asking those that are already paying those bills to pay the money back with loans they don't want to take. I think the government is totally, totally out of touch with the reality for millions of people - after 12 years of a Tory Government."

"I was up here in November, and that's when I was told in detail what was happening at the quarry and it's obviously deeply concerning. I think we absolutely need to get to the bottom of it and ensure that the agencies have the resources they need to deal with it. This has come up on a number of occasions for me, and I think that just underlines how important it is for local people and completely understandably so.

"I think the Environment Agency needs more resources to do the job it needs to do properly. I am concerned about what I've heard about the quarry. This is not for the first time today - this came up on my previous visits here and it's obviously a huge cause for concern and we've absolutely got to get to the bottom of it and get it sorted out for local people. I don't think delaying this is helping anybody, but the Environment Agency as we all know, has not had the resources it's needed over recent years.

"I'll take away from today exactly what I took away in November, which is a deep sense of how concerning it is, and a deep sense that something needs to be done about it. And here I am, I was here in November - back here a number of months afterwards - clearly something needs to be done in relation to this quarry. And so, you know, I've heard that message I hope others have and actually get on with action so that next time I'm here, we'll be talking about what's been done rather than what needs to be done."

Sir Keir Starmer told StokeonTrentLive: "We're fighting for every vote. We are putting forward a positive case, we've got a very good set of candidates. I'm very conscious, we've got to earn every vote. And we've made huge changes in the Labour Party since the 2019 general election defeat. We've got practical answers to the problems that I think many people are struggling with today - the most important of which is the cost of living crisis. So we're putting forward a positive case. We'll fight for every vote, but I know we've got to earn every vote and I hope we can make some gains."

Sir Keir has met with apprentices on site, including advanced apprentice Scott Mowat.