The Labour leader presented his party to business leaders as the answer to the UK’s economic troubles.
08 December 2022
Sir Keir Starmer has declared Labour is “ready to partner” with business as he pitched the party as the answer to the UK’s economic woes.
Addressing a gathering of 350 business leaders in London, the Labour leader vowed to “remedy that historic wrong” of the Conservatives and give Britain “a new business model”.
He told the party’s business conference in Canary Wharf on Thursday: “I believe that to drive Britain forward, we need a partnership and I’m here to say, Labour is ready, ready to partner with you.
“Because we’re not just a pro-business party, we’re a party that is proud of being pro-business.”
Sir Keir criticised the Tory governments of the last 12 years for their “failure to seize the opportunities”, “short-termism” and “sticking-plaster politics”.
He continued: “What I’m focused on is how Labour can remedy that historic wrong because it’s going to be our job to tackle the long-term challenges to give Britain a new business model.”
The conference was also due to hear details of the review carried out by independent peer and former Goldman Sachs economist Lord Jim O’Neill into the UK’s start-up industry.
It recommends removing barriers to institutional investment in firms with records of high growth while also giving “real” independence to the state-owned British Business Bank.
The review also recommends the compilation of new metrics on the success of each UK university’s spin-out companies.
