CBI recovery plan can power the regions and skills – The Yorkshire Post says

THE case for tackling regional inequalities, as distinct from ‘levelling up’, in next month’s Budget is made even more compelling by the wide-ranging policy speech delivered by Tony Danker, the new director-general of the CBI.
By YP Comment
Published 4th Feb 2021, 05:45 BST
Skills policy goes to the heart of tackling regional inequalities, argues Mr Danker.Skills policy goes to the heart of tackling regional inequalities, argues Mr Danker.
Skills policy goes to the heart of tackling regional inequalities, argues Mr Danker.

Echoing themes championed by his predecessor Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, this address takes on added significance because of the cost of Covid to the economy and the need for fairness to underpin the country’s recovery.

And his exposure of the North-South productivity divide, in addition to the CBI’s revelation that nine out of 10 workers will have to reskill or retrain by the end of the decade, adds further impetus to the 14-point plan outlined earlier this week by Justine Greening, the former Education Secretary.

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Having built up hopes last year before the planned autumn in Budget was downgraded in status, this newspaper, for one, certainly expects Chancellor Rishi Sunak to look very favourably at such overtures and other measures to rebalance in the economy.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing next month's Budget.Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing next month's Budget.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing next month's Budget.

But there’s also the fundamental point made by the CBI chief; namely the need for a broader political consensus over the key planks of the recovery plan that bears much closer resemblance to the national spirit of 1945 rather than rancour of 2008 after the global financial crash.

And that means politicians working with business on the defining issues of the coming decade – the North-South divide, youth unemployment and climate change – rather than coming up with their own strategies and then involving groups like the CBI, and also the Federation of Small Businesses, as an after-thought.

They’re not. They’re expertise will be crucial to the creation of a new era of growth and prosperity that can support wider social reform – and all parties at Westminster should now heed Mr Danker’s wise words of warning.

Related topics:Tony DankerYorkshire PostJustine GreeningNorth

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