The Labour government was pinning everything on an ambitious industrial strategy to boost growth. It was meant to make the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7, reboot the economy, raise real wages and generate all the extra tax revenues that were going to pay for improved public services. The trouble is, there is not much sign of it. First we were told that it would be published in the spring, and now it has emerged that we will have to wait until June to finally see it. It is increasingly hard to avoid the conclusion that it may not actually exist.
Today’s GDP figures will have come as a small reprieve for Chancellor Rachel Reeves. A 0.1 per cent expansion for the last quarter was at least a positive figure, even if only just. But on a per capita basis, output is still falling, and it is a long way from the dramatically faster growth that Reeves and her party promised. For that, the government is putting its faith in their industrial strategy, which they say will prioritise key sectors.
So where is it? A few of us might have expected that Reeves, who told us during the election campaign that she ‘knew how to run the economy’ would have put it in place within weeks of taking office. Instead, it has been postponed yet again. Even then, there doesn’t seem to be a firm date in the diary. At this rate, we will be lucky to see it before the end of the year.
It is hard to understand why. After all, it is hardly likely to be dramatically original. It will almost certainly prioritise the usual mix of things the UK happens to be quite good at, such as life sciences, as well as whatever happens to be fashionable, such as artificial intelligence, along with some initiatives on skills training, encouraging start-ups, and partnering with universities to make the most of the UK’s science base. Admittedly, it takes time to get all the charts ready, and to line up one or two big investments from a tech or pharma giant to make it all seem more plausible. Even so, a whole year in office is a long time for something so crucial to the entire programme of the government to appear. Wouldn’t it be better to crack on with making the country a little richer?
Perhaps the real answer is staring us in the face. Reeves doesn’t want to publish her industrial strategy because she doesn’t have a clue what should be in it. The longer she postpones it the longer she has in office before that becomes painfully clear.
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