Instead of picking winners, Peter Kyle should get out of their way Opinion If Britain is to ever produce a trillion-dollar company, it will not be a result of the schemes announced by Peter Kyle and Rachel Reeves this week. It will be a result of creating an economic environment in which ambitious businesses can start, scale, invest and recruit without needing special handouts or assistance from the [...]
Government targets £99bn in Australian investment in major projects Economics The government is looking Down Under to bankroll major infrastructure projects, as it aims to raise £99bn in Australian pension investment the next decade. Investment minister Lord Stockwood is touring Australia, Malaysia and Singapore this week as he positions the UK as the most “trusted, stable and connected” destination for funds in the region. The [...]
What makes Rachel Reeves think she should be picking winners? Opinion Rachel Reeves’ vision for an “active and strategic” state is just old fashioned dirigisme with a new name, says Emmanuel Igwe A few hours before her Mais lecture this week, the chancellor had told Faisal Islam in an interview that she “so believed in an active and strategic state… working with working people to shape the [...]
Greg Jackson urges Labour to exploit North Sea oil as UK ‘stares down barrel’ of energy price shock March 5, 2026 Octopus founder and government adviser Greg Jackson has urged Labour to “use what’s available” in the North Sea and rethink its key net zero policies. Jackson said the county was “staring down the barrel” of an energy price shock in light of the conflict in the Middle East. The Octopus chief executive who is also [...]
Manufacturers warn UK faces ‘tipping point’ on competitiveness January 12, 2026 The Labour government has been handed a major warning over the future of the manufacturing industry as the sector battles rising costs and pressures to shift business to shift overseas. A fresh survey from the sector’s industry body Make UK showed senior executives in manufacturing firms feared cost pressures would soon reach a “tipping point”. [...]
Rachel Reeves’ growth policies scored by City AM October 20, 2025 As Rachel Reeves does her maths ahead of the 26 November Budget, she will hope that Labour’s policies have delivered enough growth to limit the number of tax hikes needed to restore her £9.9bn fiscal headroom. The fiscal black hole facing the Treasury could be between £20bn and £30bn due to higher borrowing costs, productivity [...]
Industrial strategy vs journalism: The battle for UK university funding September 17, 2025 The future of journalism courses in UK higher education is under threat after the government confirmed plans to divert funding away from media and communications courses and towards subjects more directly tied to its industrial strategy. In May, ministers announced a £108m cut to the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) for 2025-26 – reducing the total [...]
Rachel Reeves’ matchmaker moment July 23, 2025 Finance bros and gals are often seen oozing confidence as they strut their stuff around the streets of the City of London, imagining they’re the main characters on hit show Industry. But it would be a mistake to assume these investor strategists, expert consultants and risk analysts are libertarian dreamers, swashbuckling Reagan fanatics and small-state [...]
One month on, the wheels are already coming off the government’s industrial strategy July 23, 2025 Today marks one month since the publication of the government’s shiny new industrial strategy. Businesses everywhere could hardly contain their excitement after hearing the scale of Downing Street’s ambitions. So, what has happened since? Here are some of the highlights. A biodiesel plant in Lincolnshire has been closed, as well as a nearby bioethanol plant. [...]
ABPI: UK aims high on life sciences, but investment lags behind July 16, 2025 The government’s newly unveiled Life Sciences Sector Plan lays out an ambition to position the UK as a global life sciences leader by 2030. But the pharmaceutical industry has pushed back, warning that without major reforms to medicine funding and pricing, the strategy risks underdelivering. Published on Wednesday as part of government’s Industrial Strategy, the [...]