We knew it was coming as soon as the Prime Minister popped up in the Mail on Sunday, promising that this autumn the cabinet would ‘cut through the dither’ and deliver bold policy reforms to support growth. Since then, we’ve had a raft of announcements, a far-reaching ministerial re-shuffle, and fairly frenetic telephone calls from Number 10 and departments to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) meant to show us that Whitehall means business.
Perhaps the most important event of the week, apart from the promotion of some our Norfolk MPs, was the Chancellor’s off-hand comment on the BBC1 Andrew Marr Show last Sunday, where he let slip that the Treasury was actively considering the creation of a small business bank. An important shift, as it echoes the call that John Longworth Director General at the BCC and his BCC team have been making for many months now. The BCC’s own paper on the case for a British Business Bank is now being discussed at the highest levels of government, and we will work hard over the coming weeks to ensure that any proposal that emerges actually serves new and growing companies in the real economy – rather than just the government’s PR interests.
The most disappointing event this week, on the other hand, was the government’s decision to wallop the key issue of aviation capacity into the long grass. By convening yet another review and pushing decisions into the next Parliament, ministers are shying away from one of business’s top priorities.
So the talk of ‘cutting through the dither’ may yet be just that – talk. Or it could signal a substantive change in government policy that really helps business deliver a new model economy. We’ll be pushing for the latter in the weeks to come.
Ensure you are part of the debate by attending our Economic Breakfast with John Longworth Director General BCC and Chole Smith MP on 5 October at Dunston Hall and attend our business conference Unlocking Success on the 23 November at OPEN Norwich.
