England, Could I Borrow Your Prime Minister?

Prime Minister Cameron gave a great speech in which he pledged that the government was committed to doing everything possible to encourage British entrepreneurialism. This included, cutting government spending to balance the budget, while lowering business taxes to encourage investment and strategically investing in infrastructure via a public-private partnership. Above all, Prime Minister Cameron stressed that while government could create a pro-growth environment, new ideas, innovation and job creation could only occur in the private sector. So, if it would please you dear England, could I borrow your Prime Minister for a little bit?

David Cameron promises 'new economic dynamism

David Cameron has pledged to unleash a 'new economic dynamism' as he appealed to business leaders to create the jobs Britain needs to recover from the recession.

By By Rosa Prince,

Oct 25, 2010

The Government is attempting to shift the spotlight from cuts and public sector job losses, in the wake of last week's spending review.

Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry annual conference, the Prime Minister told the audience of business leaders that there would be a ''forensic, relentless focus on growth'' over the months ahead.

He insisted that innovation and job creation in the private sector were essential to help rebuild the economy.

Ministers would dedicate themselves to promoting British business and helping create the conditions in which entrepreneurialism could flourish.

A detailed national infrastructure plan published today is designed to secure £200 billion of long-term investment from the public and private sectors.

Mr Cameron announced that the Government would also invest more than £200 million over the next four years in technology and innovation centres, which would bring universities and business together. The idea is based on a model drawn up by James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner entrepreneur.

''When we say we're going to build a new economic dynamism, we mean it,'' he said.

The speech, his first to the CBI as Prime Minister, comes amid concern about the expected 490,000 public sector job losses to be triggered by spending cuts over the next four years.

''In the weeks and months ahead, ministers will be developing detailed plans to turn this strategy into action,'' he said.

''Everything – from bank lending to skills, green tech to high tech, competition to innovation, international trade to local growth – will be put under the microscope.

''That forensic, relentless focus on growth is what you will get from this government.

''What I need in return from you is a commitment to create and innovate, to invest and grow, to develop and break boundaries."

''The new jobs, the new products, the new ideas that will lift us up will be born in the factories and offices you own – not in the corridors of Whitehall.''

The Prime Minister said British business would have "no more vocal champion" than the Government as it tried to help drive growth.

He insisted that the Government was creating the stability for investment by removing the structural deficit over the next four years.

Labour frontbenchers and union leaders warn that the fiscal strategy risks choking off growth and sending Britain into a double-dip recession.

But Mr Cameron insisted: "With our Budget in June and the Comprehensive Spending Review last week, we took Britain out of the danger zone.

"The world's responded. Britain's borrowing costs have dropped to the lowest for a generation, and the IMF and OECD, you the CBI, and the 35 business leaders who wrote to The Daily Telegraph last week have backed the approach we have taken in tackling the deficit."

He sought to reassure critics of the Government's planned immigration cap that it would not be a bar to UK firms recruiting the "best talent" from overseas.

"As we control our borders and bring immigration to a manageable level, we will not impede you from attracting the best talent from around the world," he said.

The Government's infrastructure plan, published today, "completely update and modernise our infrastructure, so British business is free to compete with the rest of the world".

It would unlock £200 billion worth of public and private sector investment, he said.

"We'll work with utility companies to get more investment in our energy, with construction companies on our roads, with the telecommunications industry on broadband," Mr Cameron went on.

The Government would provide up to £60 million to pay for offshore wind infrastructure to enable the UK to become a world leader in the industry.

"We need thousands of offshore turbines in the next decade and beyond, each one as tall as the Gherkin," he said.

"And manufacturing these needs large factories which have to be on the coast.

"Yet neither the factories nor these large port sites currently exist and that, understandably, is putting off private investors.

"So we're stepping in. To help secure private sector investment in this technology, we are providing up to £60 million to meet the needs of offshore wind infrastructure at our ports."

The Crown Estate would also work with ports and manufacturers to "realise the potential" of its sites.

The Prime Minister said: "To build that new dynamism in our economy, to create the growth, jobs and opportunities Britain needs we've got to back the big businesses of tomorrow, not just the big businesses of today.

"That means opening up access to finance, creating an attractive environment for venture capital funding, getting banks lending to small businesses again and insisting that a far greater proportion of Government procurement budgets are spent with small and medium-sized firms.

"In the days and months ahead we will be setting out our plans in all these areas."

The £200 million technology and innovation centres would help turn innovation into commercial success, he said.

"These centres will sit between universities and businesses, bringing the two together," Mr Cameron told the CBI.

"They won't just carry out their own in-house research, they will spread knowledge too, connecting businesses - large and small, new and old - to potential new technologies, making them aware of funding streams and providing access to skills and equipment."

He added: "These centres will be great for research, great for business - and they're going to put Britain back at the top table for innovation."

Mr Cameron said the Government wanted to help increase competition and remove barriers preventing new areas in certain sectors.

A new "streamlined" competition regime is to be ushered in by Business Secretary Vince Cable alongside the merger of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission.

The Prime Minister said there would be "wholesale change of attitude".

"Where there was neglect about maintaining a basic framework for business, we are bringing a pro-enterprise attitude - dealing with the deficit, cutting business taxes, investing in infrastructure," he said.

"Where there was complacency about our competitive advantages, we are bringing a hands-on attitude - consolidating those strengths, getting behind key industries in every region of our country.

"And where there was a backward-looking, unhelpful approach to innovation and start-ups we are bringing an optimistic attitude, backing the young insurgent companies, pulling down the barriers that are holding them back."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8085093/David-Cameron-promises-new-economic-dynamism.html