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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is UK prime minister
The world has entered a new economic era. In many ways it is more dangerous, with growing threats to our security. But it is also a world of enormous possibility. Technological advances in life sciences, clean energy, artificial intelligence and more, are profoundly reshaping our economy.
It’s a golden opportunity. We can harness these great forces and use them to make our economy both fairer and stronger. The race is undeniably on, but Britain is well positioned to win. Our finance industry, universities and scientific institutions are all world-leading. Our legal system sets global standards. We have a heritage steeped in commerce and enterprise. And with our recent hat-trick of trade deals — with India, the US and EU — we have restored our identity as the global champion for free trade. A signal of defiance, that even as the world becomes more volatile, Britain is unashamedly open for business. And that years of chaos are now firmly in the past.
Yet there is a catch. For decades, successive governments have shied away from a proper industrial strategy. We have had a state that, paradoxically, both stands back and interferes too much. When industries found themselves at the mercy of change, too often they were left to fend for themselves, with government uninterested in providing a bridge to the future. Yet equally, when new opportunities present themselves, Britain has often found itself either too regulated to take advantage, or too cautious to change course. The result is a state that is both overbearing and feeble, poorly serving an economy that has become too reliant on a small number of places, too exposed to global volatility, and too sluggish to take advantage of opportunities.
In an era of technological transformation, this cannot stand. Tired debates about big or small government belong in the past. The only debate now is whether you are agile enough to seize future chances or be rapidly left behind. That is the driving purpose of my plan for change. And it is why I am proud to launch a new industrial strategy for the nation today. Robust, strategic and unapologetically long-term, it meets the challenges of our era. A 10-year plan to make the UK the best country to invest in anywhere in the world. But also, a new relationship between business and government defined by partnership.
The deal is simple. Government provides the strategic certainty. And that means businesses are free to do what they do best and create wealth.
Of course, some will still say this means the government is intervening more in the economy. I don’t deny that. I think it is our role to back British businesses, invest in our comparative advantage and make bets in pursuit of growth and productivity. But this strategy has been written with businesses themselves. This means it understands the importance of agility and constantly asking whether regulations are blocking the conditions for Britain to thrive.
The result is decisive backing for eight high-growth sectors — life sciences, advanced manufacturing, digital technology, defence, clean energy, finance, professional and business services and the creative industries. Each has a clear path to comparative advantage. Each will create jobs and wealth. And each will be backed with billions of pounds worth of investment: £86bn in research and development, scaling up our innovation capacity. More capital for the British Business Bank. A new generation of technical colleges. And action on industrial electricity prices to address a major barrier to our competitiveness.
Make no mistake, this will make a difference to thousands of businesses. But most important of all, it is part of our plan for British growth. As we have had to fix the foundations in our first year, we have asked a lot of business. But we also took decisions that now give us a tremendous platform to build a more prosperous Britain. We’ve backed British exporters, by opening up new markets with those three trade deals.
We are radically deregulating the planning system. We’ve developed a world-leading strategy to harness the potential of artificial intelligence, we will unlock pension wealth to boost investment and are cutting through the thickets of state regulation that hold back building and growth. And, as the spending review demonstrated, we are investing in skills, transport and infrastructure across the country.
Today’s industrial strategy builds on all this. It represents a new phase for the government — a shift away from fixing inherited problems to delivering change and renewal people can feel. It will create the wealth, jobs and growth we need in every community. A plan that backs Britain’s wealth creators. And in partnership with them, we will get Britain’s future back.
