May's flagship industrial strategy merely '˜business as usual', claim MPs

The Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said despite promises of a “step change” in the Government’s approach, a green paper published in January was simply a continuation of previous policies.

The committee was scathing about the failure to address the weaknesses in the UK’s skills base, saying its proposals left “much to be desired”.

And it warns of “potential tensions” around its pledges to rebalance regional investment, while urging ministers away from providing “palliative care” for “failing and obsolete industries”.

“After six months in development we expected more than a disappointing combination of re-announcements, continuations of existing policy, and vague aspirations,” the report states.

“[The strategy] provides a long list of policy interventions but little by way of ground rules to provide a framework for future decision-making which, we would argue, should be the core of any long-term strategy,”

Mrs May’s commitment to a deliver an industrial strategy was a key plank of her successful bid to become Conservative leader, and was seen to mark a break with David Cameron’s approach. The committee said her promise to build an economy that “works for everyone” appeared to represent a “significant shift”, suggesting the Government was willing to sacrifice some short-term economic growth for “more evenly distributed and resilient growth”.

But while it acknowledged ministers were still developing their strategy, it said that so far the proposals set out in the green paper by Business Secretary Greg Clark had failed to match the Prime Minister’s rhetoric. Committee chairman Iain Wright said MPs had concerns that the approach outlined so far reflects a “business as usual” attitude that “will not achieve the step change the Prime Minister aspires to”.

The committee also sounded a warning that businesses needed to be able to continue to bring in skilled workers from abroad after Britain has left the EU. And it said that while the Government was right to support industries which faced anti-competitive pressures, such as steel, it should not be propping up those that are “failing and obsolete”.