Enough slogans, Labour must walk the walk on growth
The government’s promises of economic growth will fail unless it moves beyond slogans and reshuffles to implement substantive structural reforms in tax, planning and infrastructure to provide the certainty and stability needed to attract business investment, says John Caudwell
Our Prime Minister tells us, once again, that his government is focused on growth. The reshuffle has been billed as a “step up a gear”, with ministers chosen for their supposed pro-business instincts.
The new business secretary Peter Kyle kicked off his new tenure in the role by enthusiastically telling business leaders that his goal was to create an environment for Britain to create its first $1 trillion company.
While we all must welcome a doubling down on economic growth, and a desire to start giving businesses what they need to get on with it, I cannot be the only one who feels a frustrating sense of deja vu.
For more than a year now we have heard fine words about stability, investment and a new era of prosperity. Yet growth has barely stirred, investors in Britain are still hesitating, and businesses continue – with good reason in my opinion – to complain of friction and delay.
Growth is not a slogan
Growth cannot be conjured by slogans or reshuffles. Hastily arranged telephone calls to business leaders by the new business secretary are not enough to allay the nervousness many entrepreneurs are feeling. And we’re hardly putting out the welcome mat to foreign investment.
British business leaders, like global investors, want clarity, predictability and an environment that enables growth. They want to know that if they take the risk of putting the hard yards and billions into Britain, the framework is there to reward them for doing so.
The government needs to show them the infrastructure is here to support them, the planning system will not block them and the energy grid will not collapse under demand. Above all, the government must demonstrate that it has the courage to see reforms through, not just tinker at the edges, or play games of musical chairs.
That is why I launched the Caudwell Strong Britain project with the Council for Geostrategy, an independent and non-partisan Westminster think-tank. The latest report sets out a serious plan to restore Britain’s competitiveness.
It is not about glossy catchphrases; it’s about substance. The report recommends a five-year reduced corporation tax rate of 10 per cent for new greenfield investment in critical sectors, alongside 100 per cent first-year capital allowances.
That is how you signal to the world that Britain is open for business. It also calls for reform of decision-making, which is currently the worst of both worlds – neither centralised nor devolved, which only confuses investors and slows everything down.
The report demands urgent action to modernise our planning processes and infrastructure. At present, Britain’s antiquated systems leave us paralysed, and if we do not make them fit for purpose, investors will simply go elsewhere.
None of this is radical for the sake of it. These are common-sense steps that some other countries have already taken, which is precisely why they are racing ahead while Britain lags behind. As I’ve said before, we risk standing still while the world changes around us.
AI, clean energy, technology, biotech – the future is arriving at speed, and we are missing out. If we allow that to continue, the decline will not be abstract; it will be felt in lost jobs, stagnant wages and declining public services. It will be felt in every town and city in the country.
So when I hear the Prime Minister talking again about growth, I really do want him and his government to succeed, because Britain desperately needs it. But this time must be different from before – when “change” and “growth” were said to be the central pillars of this government’s first term ambitions.
This time must be different from before – when “change” and “growth” were said to be the central pillars of this government’s first term ambitions.
The cabinet may have new faces, but the test is not whether they can deliver clever soundbites – the test is whether they are prepared to embrace structural reform and to work in genuine partnership with business.
Growth does not come from the Treasury alone. It comes from a government that understands enterprise, respects capital, and clears the obstacles out of the way for inward investment into the UK economy.
I know from my own experience building businesses that investors can forgive many things, but not uncertainty. Britain’s reputation as a place to do business has been damaged by years of instability and policy flip-flops.
That is why this government must seize the opportunity of a fresh start. We must stop trimming ambition, as we saw when the clean energy target was watered down. We must stop shrinking funds, as happened with the National Wealth Fund before it even got going.
It’s time to show courage and get on with delivering the energy, infrastructure and skills system this country will need for decades to come.
If this new cabinet is serious about growth, and it really means what it says about creating an environment for our first $1 trillion company, then it should embrace the ideas in Caudwell Strong Britain and consider putting them into practice.
Britain can still be a magnet for global investment, a home for cutting-edge industry and a place where prosperity is shared widely – but only if we have the courage to go beyond platitudes.
Growth is not a slogan, it’s the foundation of our future. If ministers mean what they say, then now is the time to prove it.
John Caudwell is a British entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of Phones 4u. Let him know what you think of his views by joining his conversation on [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndcaudwell/]