‘This is about growth that you can actually see and feel, not just in our cities, good growth in every postcode across the UK’, the Chancellor John Healey writes for The Mirror
Spend ten minutes in your local pub, cafe or corner shop and you’ll hear the same thing.
Brits are working hard and doing the right thing to get by, working for a decent future for their family or business.
But often it feels like it doesn’t matter what they do, things out of their control are making life hard. A conflict overseas pushes prices up. Rising mortgage costs because of a shock to the global economy. Decisions about where they live being made hundreds of miles away.
When the world feels uncertain, I know Mirror readers don’t want to hear an economics lecture from politicians. What you want to hear is whether there’s a plan to make life better for your family, your community, and your future.
A plan that means your children have the best opportunities available to them close to home. A plan that means the public services you rely on work better so that communities can feel proud of the place they live again.
A plan that allows us to drive productivity through more investment, boost innovation, and arm our people with skills and opportunity they need to thrive.
The way to do that is growth. But not growth for its own sake. Not a number in a spreadsheet or a line on a graph. And I don’t mean growth that’s reserved for our biggest cities. This is about growth that you can actually see and feel, good growth in every postcode across the UK.
It’s new factories across Britain using cutting edge technologies and taking on young people. Small business owners finally being able to expand. Town centres and high streets seeing new life, new cafes and venues staying open. Young people building successful careers, at home or maybe further afield – but crucially where they want to.
Britain already has the strengths it needs to succeed – global financial centres, cutting edge science and technology, world class universities and most importantly, communities full of ambition and enterprise. So the question is: what’s stopping us?
Tomorrow, as your Chancellor, I’ll set out my plan to deliver good growth in every postcode by making the most of Britain’s strengths.
We’re putting mayors, local government, entrepreneurs and investors at the heart of this plan. At No10 North, these conversations and decisions are already well underway. This will lead to more jobs, innovation and growth in all communities.
Because the answer to an uncertain world is not to sit back and hope for the best. It’s to back ourselves.
Britain’s greatest strength has always been our talent, graft and ambition. Let’s make sure nothing will stand in our way.
That is my plan – to back Britain, back working people, and back every part of this country so it can succeed.