Labour MP Lucy Rigby KC has welcomed Chancellor John Healey’s new growth agenda, highlighting plans to spread investment across every part of the country, back British innovation and build a stronger partnership between government, local leaders and business.
Rigby was among Labour figures attending the Chancellor’s major speech at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, where Healey set out what he described as a drive for “good growth in every postcode”.
The Chancellor used the speech to outline a programme centred on increased public and private investment, stronger support for innovative British firms, further devolution and reforms aimed at reducing barriers holding businesses back.
Posting after the event, Rigby summed up the approach as:
“Investment – public & private – flowing to every corner of 🇬🇧
Backing British innovation 💡
A new partnership between central govt, local leaders & businesses 🤝
Proportionate regulation geared towards facilitating growth as well as managing risk 📈
All built on the bedrock of fiscal responsibility.”
Rigby also welcomed the opportunity to speak with Dr Clive Hickman OBE, the Manufacturing Technology Centre’s first employee and now its chair.
Healey: Britain must become ‘Growth Britain’ again
In his speech, Healey said his ambition was to make Britain a country of greater investment, innovation, wealth creation and jobs.
The Chancellor acknowledged the pressures facing businesses, including energy costs, regulation, planning constraints and labour costs, while arguing that sustained economic growth was essential to improving both living standards and the business environment.
He told the audience:
“I dedicate myself to this mission as Chancellor, to make Great Britain, Growth Britain again – with more investment, more innovation and more jobs.”
Healey also stressed that the Government wants to work in partnership with businesses, local government, universities and trade unions, rather than relying on decisions made exclusively in Whitehall.
£150m boost for northern scale-ups
Among the announcements was a new £150 million British Business Bank allocation for high-growth firms in the North, intended to help innovative businesses expand, create jobs and attract additional private investment while remaining rooted in their communities.
The Chancellor also announced the Northern 500, designed to bring together 500 ambitious mid-sized businesses in a growth community supported by northern mayors, central government and the private sector.
Healey said the Government would seek to double the number of UK “unicorn” businesses and increasingly use the state as an early customer for promising British technologies.
The Government also intends to introduce new “sandboxing” powers to allow businesses to test emerging technologies more easily, including areas such as robotics, drones and medical innovation.
Cutting barriers to business growth
The speech contained a strong message on regulation, with Healey arguing that government must manage risk without allowing excessive bureaucracy and delay to prevent investment.
The Government has already committed to reducing the administrative burden of regulation by 25 per cent by the end of the Parliament, which it estimates would save businesses around £5.6 billion a year.
That follows proposals announced over the weekend to simplify business reporting requirements, exempt more companies from audit requirements and increase the use of digital communications.
Healey also announced changes to Treasury investment rules, including reducing the Green Book discount rate from 3.5 per cent to 3 per cent, intended to give greater weight to the long-term benefits of infrastructure and other public investment.
Bringing government and business together
At the heart of Healey’s argument was the need for a new relationship between national government, local leaders and the private sector.
He said greater devolution would enable local leaders to build infrastructure, develop industrial strategies and attract private investment according to the economic needs of their own areas.
The Chancellor pointed to Britain’s strengths in areas including advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, life sciences, defence technology, creative industries and financial services, arguing that the challenge now is ensuring British ideas can also scale and create jobs in Britain.
Rigby’s response underlined the increasingly prominent pro-business message from Labour MPs as the Government seeks to translate its growth strategy into investment and jobs across the country.
For businesses, the message from Coventry was clear: Labour wants growth driven by partnership — combining public investment and an active government with the innovation, investment and job creation of the private sector.
