The pundits just can’t seem to agree. One morning the papers are full of the joys of spring: green shoots abound, bumper growth is just around the corner and we can all breathe sighs of relief that the reckless lending about which we have all been tut-tutting will soon be back and bigger than ever. The following day, however, it’s all doom and gloom as we learn that we may not yet have seen the worst of this recession, as the jobless total climbs and as we see such free cash as is knocking around being snaffled by bonus-hungry bankers.
The recession, one could be forgiven for concluding, moves in its own mysterious way and we can neither predict what it will do next nor take any steps to bring it to a speedier end.
I find this a rather dispiriting view. True, the economic cycle has its own law and, as even Mr Brown must by now have realised, it cannot be shaped (or abolished) at our whim but that does not mean that we can’t take steps to make our economy stronger and more durable.
Our main weakness (and the reason that we were particularly vulnerable in this particular recession) is that our economy is far too narrowly based on professional and financial services in London and the South East. It is not that there are no entrepreneurs or businesses operating in other sectors or regions; it is just that they never received the same backing from the centre.
A great deal of the City’s success was due to Government action. The Government provided the type of regulation that the City wanted, the Government provided a lot of the infrastructure investment that the City wanted and it provided a great deal of assistance with international marketing. The City and the Government were very close. There was a Minister for the City and there was a Lord Mayor, an ordinary Mayor and more than a few former bankers and fund-managers sitting in Parliament.
I do not begrudge the City that treatment. I just think that other sectors of the economy, and other areas of the country, deserve nothing less. With equivalent levels of national cooperation we can allow regional businesses to flourish to a much greater degree than has hitherto been the case.
What legislative or regulatory changes do the pharmaceutical or creative industries need? What investment would help manufacturing in the West Country? What problems are faced by professional services in Cardiff? No I don't know either but then we aren't paid to know. The Prime Minister is.
Mr. Brown has got to get a much better handle on the basic things that must be done to help British business. He should commission independent expert-led reviews of the economic strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of Britain’s regions and industry sectors. He and other MPs should meet with the representatives of all types and size of business. The PM must go on an epic fact-finding mission. It’s just that he seems to be rather reluctant to set off and needs a gentle nudge. That is were we come in.
I have set up petitions encouraging the Prime Minister to initiate reviews (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Economic-3Rs/) and meet with a far wider spectrum of business people than he seems to have done so far (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BritishBusiness1/).
I would like to ask you to follow the links and give these petitions your support.
I would also like you to look at the other petitions on this site and on the Petition the Prime Minister site more generally, to sign those you agree with and to consider adding a petition of your own. We live in an age of blogs, wikipedia and “post your comment here” and I do not see why that thinking should not apply to economic policy. Some of my own suggestions may be found at the bottom of the page.
Clearly these petitions are not the whole answer but I do think that they could be part of the answer and the more support they attract the more effective they will be. That is why I am asking you to sign these petitions and encourage others to do the same. The alternative is to leave the planning of our economic future largely in the hands of a few special advisers in a couple of Downing Street offices and I think we should all be a little nervous of that.
R M Ellis
(rmellis546@msn.com)
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Other suggestions:
1.) Encourage cooperation between IT departments in education colleges and local businesses.
Almost all companies could benefit from better use of IT but too few businesses (particularly SMEs) know how IT could help them. Universities and colleges of further education often have IT departments whose staff would be more than capable of carrying out an “IT review” for a company, seeing what changes would benefit them and helping them learn how to use any new equipment.
These research and IT contributions could be hugely valuable.
Universities and further education colleges who make them should be rewarded when it comes to rankings and funding.
Link: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BritishBusiness2/
2.) Help international exports with a “brand mark” for British goods.
British goods sometimes face an uphill battle in the domestic and international market place because they are often more expensive than goods manufactured in other countries. What do British goods have in their favour? Well, the fact that they are British. They have not been produced in sweatshops, they have not been produced in flagrantly environmentally unfriendly ways and they are safe to have around. They may cost more but they are often better. We should drive that undoubted advantage home. This could be done on a British or European level but a “brand mark” should be established and promoted so that people know more about the provenance of their potential purchases and can direct their custom accordingly.
Link: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BritishBusiness3/
3.) Supervision of Government spending in the regions by regional MPs.
Government spending in the regions is a joke. Different departments and quangos spend money in a wholly uncoordinated way. The MPs representing an area should scrutinise the regional spending of Government money and present an annual report to their constituents.
I think we can rely on the other candidates contesting a given seat to spot things that the MPs may have missed and, given the depths to which the reputation of the political class has fallen I imagine that our elected representatives would jump at the chance to do something useful.
Link: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BritishBusiness4/
