That’s the view of Tim Page, the Trades Union Congress’s (TUC’s) industrial policy expert, in this exclusive podcast for FoodManufacture.co.uk.
He says the government needs to follow the German model to get a “better-balanced” economy that gives greater priority to medium-sized food and other manufacturing firms to boost economic growth.
Industrial strategy
Page was speaking after a TUC-organised debate in London, where general secretary Frances O’Grady, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, former Labour secretary of state Andrew Adonis and industrialist Andrew Churchill joined forces to call on the government to develop a coherent, long-term industrial strategy.
Listen to why Page thinks there is a broad consensus developing across party lines and why there needs to be a “better spread” of businesses across the economy.
He also advocates adopting many strands of Germany industrial policy and outlines the benefits he believes this could bring to the UK as the country battles to return to economic growth.