UK should go ‘toe to toe’ with the US on growth: Business Secretary
Business Secretary Peter Kyle will set out his ambition for the UK to go toe to toe on economic growth with the US economy to boost living standards on Wednesday (14 January).
In a speech to top business leaders, including from Alphabet, Meta and Ford at Bloomberg’s London headquarters, Kyle will lay out how the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy will double down on the UK’s world-leading strengths in 2026 and not only scale up businesses, but keep them anchored in the UK.
“We stood on a manifesto commitment to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7. And we absolutely meant it.
“Now, in the first three quarters of last year, the UK achieved the second-highest growth of that group. That is cause for optimism. But contrast it to the United States. The US achieved 4.3% growth over the last quarter.
“I want to fight tooth and nail with you to get that extra growth. To compete with America. I say this because I know what it would mean for families. The impact it would have on people’s wages. On their disposable income. On their living standards.”
Kyle is expected to welcome the strong progress the government has made so far in delivering its Modern Industrial Strategy, with a new quarterly update confirming £79bn of investment commitments and 50,000 new, well-paid jobs secured in just the last quarter.
He will also confirm the names of three new business leaders to join the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council: Amelia Gould (General Manager, Maritime at Helsing), Keith Anderson (CEO, Scottish Power) and Dana Strong (CEO, Sky).
He is expected to say that whilst the government has made important choices for the long term such as on rail, roads and runways, it must be just as bold at driving growth in the short term:
To help bring the UK into line with the US’s levels of growth, he will argue that British businesses need help in scaling up to encourage them to stay in Britain. This will include large new investments from the British Business Bank and more firepower for UK Export Finance.
“Very soon, I will be setting out how we’ll go even further to reduce that regulatory burden and ensure our most promising start-ups don’t need to leave our shores to reach their full potential.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we will be doing more – a lot more – to move the dial. To go for growth at every opportunity.”
