Keir Starmer has vowed to take a “tough love” approach to Britain’s public finances, signalling he will not give in to critics who argue the government is taking too hard a line on either tax or spending.
“No matter how many people advise you to ignore it”, the prime minister said, “you must run towards the fire to put it out, not let it spread further.”
Read the prime minister’s speech to the International Investment Summit in full below.
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It’s fantastic to stand here and look out and see so many of you here…
And I’m really grateful that you have made the effort, and you are here. It means a huge amount to me and my government…
And welcome to this Government’s first International Investment summit.
And some of you I know have come a very long way to be here…
You have flown in from a great distance, some of you will be going straight back out again afterwards.
You have made a huge effort to share with us the precious gift of your time…
And we are really, really grateful for that.
And welcome to the Guild Hall…
London’s ancient Town Hall…
Isn’t it a fantastic building, it’s really breathtaking this Guild Hall.
Not of course to be confused with the nearby Guildhall school of music…
Where I once pursued a fleeting ambition to play the flute professionally. I kid you not…
Complete with then long hair and very, very flared jeans.
All photographic evidence has been destroyed.
But today we are pursuing a different ambition…
A shared ambition…
Growth.
You have to grow your business.
And I have to grow my country.
I’ll leave it to you to decide if you think voters or shareholders are the more forgiving audience…
But without growth – let’s just agree it’s a difficult conversation…
And that therefore, growth is a cause that binds us together.
The shared endeavour of prosperity.
It’s why we’ve made it the number one test of this government…
I am determined to do everything in my power to galvanise growth…
Determined for this country to be the highest growing economy in the G7…
That is our most important national mission.
Because it’s the only way to deliver the mandate for change that we won.
Growth is higher wages.
Growth is more vibrant high streets.
Growth is public services back on their feet.
It’s less poverty, more opportunity, more meals out, more holidays, more precious moments with your family, more cash in your pocket.
And of course, for any business…
It means a bigger market.
Higher demand…
A more secure and prosperous future…
Your effort and enterprise – rewarded in profit.
But it’s much more important, even than all that.
We live in an age when political fires rage across the world.
Conflict. Insecurity. A populist mood that rails against the open values so many of us hold dear.
Values which, as you know…
Are so crucial for making business easy to do.
And yet – at the same time…
Look around the world…
Look at the investments you and others are making.
This is an age of great possibility, as well.
Huge revolutions in digital technology, clean energy, medicine, life sciences…
Each – with the potential to fundamentally change the way we live and the way that we work…
Each – with the possibility to transform the lives of working people for the better.
And so, in times like this…
Economic growth is vital – as it always has been…
If we are to steer our way through a great period of insecurity and change…
And on to calmer waters.
Because when working people benefit from that growth…
When every community enjoys the fruits of wealth creation…
It stops a country turning in on itself and against the world.
And that in turn, helps provides a stable foundation…
Breathing space…
For a country to take advantage of those opportunities for a better future.
To put it more simply…
It’s not just that stability leads to growth – though we all recognise that.
It’s also that growth leads to stability…
Growth leads to country that is better equipped to come together…
And get its future back.
That’s why it’s always been so critical to my political project.
The key ingredient of that ‘Great Moderation’ we became accustomed to before the financial crash…
But which together, in partnership…
We now have to earn again.
Every one of you here today…
Has been invited for that reason.
It’s not just that you lead some of the most important businesses in the world.
It’s also because you are pivotal to this great cause of our times.
And the reason we are focusing so much on investment…
Is because the mission of growth, in this country in particular…
Demands it.
Private sector investment is the way we rebuild our country…
And pay our way in the world.
And make no mistake – this is a great moment to back Britain…
This is great moment to back England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
We have an amazing education system that produces some of the best talent in the world.
The largest tech sector in Europe.
Leading positions in some of those great industries of the future…
Artificial Intelligence, Life Sciences, Clean energy, the creative industries.
We’re a country where businesses thrive – small and large alike…
With clear regulatory frameworks and protections…
A legal system that sets high standards around the globe…
A location which means we can speak to our colleagues in the Americas or Asia in the same day…
A high ranking in the Global Innovation index, every year…
Our wonderful global language…
Our world-renowned sport and culture…
This great modern city…
And all around us…
A heritage steeped in commerce and trade…
A set of shared values – centuries-long…
For being a country that is open for business.
You can’t put a price on any of this.
Now we have our problems – of course we do.
As I’ve said – our public services need urgent care…
And our public finances need the tough love of prudence…
Challenges we cannot ignore.
Because, we know – just as every leader here knows…
That those early weeks and months are precious.
And, no matter how many people advise you to ignore it…
That you must run towards the fire to put it out…
Not let it spread further.
So we will fix our public services…
We will stabilise our economy…
And we will do it quickly.
Because we don’t want any of those problems associated with our inheritance…
Misting up the shop window of Britain…
Distracting you – from all those assets I just listed.
Assets that may feel more intangible…
But are more valuable…
More enduring…
Deeper in the bones of this nation.
And which are ready to be unlocked…
If we take firm and decisive action on policy – which we can and we will…
To give you total confidence that this is the moment to back Britain.
So let me quickly run through four crucial areas in our pitch for Britain.
I know – it’s a kind of CEO heresy to have a list of four not three…
So I apologise!
But please indulge me.
First – stability.
We have a golden opportunity to use our mandate…
To end the culture of chop and change…
The policy churn…
The sticking plaster politics…
That makes it so hard for investors to assess the value of any proposition.
Now, you may think – well every government says that…
But the stability that comes with a large majority in our system…
That is a unique advantage.
And we have the determination…
The focus on clear long-term ends…
A mission-led mindset that thinks in years…
Not the days or hours of the news grid…
Needed to unlock that potential.
And don’t doubt that.
Second – strategy.
We are building a more strategic architecture for growth.
A way for investors to have a much steadier hand on the tiller.
That’s why we’ve announced a new National Wealth Fund…
And switched on Great British Energy…
Which will accelerate investment in clean power and future technologies.
Like Carbon Capture and Storage, for example…
Which we just backed – alongside BP, Equinor and Eni
And which shows the hard-headed approach we will bring to industrial policy.
A partnership – sharing the risk with the private sector…
Ambitious – absolutely.
But also unsentimental.
Guided by the market…
Focused, at all times…
On the real potential for comparative advantage in this country.
You know – this is the point I would always make about our Modern Industrial Strategy.
In this country, there has been a long rather arcane political debate about “picking winners”.
Well, we’re not in the business of individual picking winners.
But we are in the business of building on our strengths.
Mowing the grass on the pitch…
Making sure the changing rooms are clean and comfortable…
That the training ground is good.
So that when our businesses compete…
They are match fit…
That, to put it simply…
We give the businesses of this country the best conditions to succeed.
I don’t know why that’s sometimes controversial in this country…
Industrial policy seems fairly commonplace elsewhere around the world.
But it is fundamental to the way we see our job on growth…
And our relationship with a room like this.
Third – Britain’s global standing.
We’re determined to improve it.
Determined – to repair…
Britain’s brand as an open, outward-looking, confident, trading nation.
Look – I see this as a diplomatic necessity…
And I think it’s clear how much priority I have given it in the first 100 days of government.
All around the world…
Whether it’s countries, or investors…
People want to know that Britain can be a stable, trusted, rule-abiding partner.
As we always have been…
But that somehow, during the whole circus that followed Brexit…
The last Government made a few people less sure about.
Needlessly insulting our closest allies…
And of course a few choice Anglo-Saxon phrases for business.
Well – no more.
We have turned the page on that – decisively…
And we will use that reset for growth.
Finally fourth – regulation
Now, I don’t see regulation as good or bad.
That seems simplistic to me.
Some regulation is life-saving…
We have seen that in recent weeks here, with the report on the tragedy of Grenfell Tower.
But across our public sector…
I would say the previous Government hid behind regulators.
Deferred decisions to them because it was either too weak or indecisive…
Or simply not committed enough to growth.
Planning is a very real example of that…
Or – for our friends from across the pond…
‘Permitting’ is a really clear example of that…
The global language…
But anyway – the key test for me on regulation…
Is of course – growth.
Is this going to make our economy more dynamic?
Is this going to inhibit or unlock investment?
Is it something that enables the builders not the blockers?
Now – I know some people may be wondering about our labour market policies introduced last week.
Let me be clear – they are pro-growth.
Workers with more security at work…
With higher wages…
That is a better growth model for this country.
It will lead to more dynamism in our labour market.
And seriously – we have to think differently about this…
A nation’s position in the world is changing all the time…
As must its growth model.
So while I know this is a room full of businesses who take investing in their human capital seriously…
When I look at the British economy as a whole…
It does seem as if sometimes, we are more comfortable hiring people to work in low paid, insecure contracts…
Than we are investing in the new technology that delivers for workers, for productivity and for our country.
And so we’ve got to break out of that trap.
But we’ve also got to look at regulation – across the piece.
And where it is needlessly holding back the investment we need to take our country forward…
Where it is stopping us building the homes…
The data centres, the warehouses, grid connectors, roads, trainlines, you name it…
Then mark my words – we will get rid of it.
Take the East Anglia 2 wind farm.
A £4 billion investment.
One Gigawatt of clean energy.
An important project – absolutely.
But also the sort of thing a country as committed to clean energy as we are…
Needs to replicate again and again.
Now regulators demanded over four thousand planning documents for that project…
Not 4000 pages – 4000 documents.
And then six weeks after finally receiving planning consent…
It was held up for a further two years by judicial review.
I mean – as an investor…
When you see this inertia…
You just don’t bother do you?
And that – in a nutshell…
Is the biggest supply-side problem we have in our country.
So it’s time to upgrade the regulatory regime…
Make it fit for the modern age..
Harness every opportunity available to Britain.
We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment…
We will march through the institutions…
And we will make sure that every regulator in this country…
Especially our economic and competition regulators…
Takes growth as seriously as this room does.
And look – tell us about your frustrations on this.
Speak to my team…
Speak to me, to Rachel, to Jonny, to Ed…
And our new Minister for Investment, Poppy.
Any leader knows the importance of a good team – and we’ve got one here.
We are united behind growth…
Our door is open…
And the work of change has already begun.
We’re reforming the planning system…
The onshore wind ban has gone…
New projects in solar, wind, tidal energy…
Carbon Capture and Storage…
Tax relief for the creative industries…
Investment from the world’s leading companies…
Blackstone, Amazon…
A new partnership with Cyrus One to build data centres in Didcot…
Finally grasping the nettle on airport expansion…
A new £1 billion commitment from Manchester Airport Group to expand Stansted…
Opening up new routes to work and holiday destinations…
The first of tens of billions worth of inward investment deals we will sign today.
Because we are determined to lead the way on growth.
Determined to get Britain building…
Determined to get our economy moving…
Through the shock and awe of investment.
That’s the message to take home today.
When the big decisions are made…
When you go back to your board rooms and ask…
Where does our money go…
Where do our jobs go…
Where does our investment in a better future go?
Let me offer you a new answer…
It’s time to back Britain.
Thank you.
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