George Freeman was elected MP for Mid Norfolk in 2010 after a fifteen year career in start-up venture capital in the technology sector. He worked closely with the Chancellor’s office in Opposition on the Richards and Dyson Reports reviewing innovation and business support policies, and is contributing to the Growth Review.
There can be no more urgent priority than unlocking growth. The outcome of the Coalition’s entire programme will ultimately depend on whether we get the growth we need. The result will determine whether Britain continues down the trajectory to being a depressed, old, debt-ridden, public sector economy or a vibrant place of hope able to compete successfully in an extraordinarily dynamic global enterprise economy. These are high stakes indeed.
What can Government do when it hasn’t got any money? Because that is the challenge baffling Westminster politicians. The lesson that Govnt cant 'buy' sustainable economic growth laid bare in the Blair Brown years is one the Red Eds appear not to have learnt.
The Chancellor’s bold deficit reduction strategy is an essential step in the right direction, as are the NI and Corporation tax measures to help business. But they are first steps. We must go further, faster, harder. The Coalition has shown admirable appetite for reform. Let’s channel more of its reforming zeal into removing the barriers to growth instead of tinkering with our voting system. The public will not thank us for obsessing about A.V. when real incomes are falling.
To really deliver the vision of a Britain 'Open for Business' again, I believe, as someone who has come to politics from business, that we need to learn some lessons from business. So now that we’ve issued the profits warning, slashed the dividend and reorganized the management, what should the board of UK plc be doing to unlock new revenues?