Speeches by Reynolds.

“The only way that we will correct this trajectory and this challenge is through attracting greater business investment and supply-side reforms that will make the difference to the performance of the economy over the long term. The OBR’s finding that the new fiscal rules and the greater focus on public investment do gro…”

“You are right to say that, but we also have to say that businesses have to be successful in the first place and make money. Again, those two things—pro-worker and pro-business—go hand in hand. Part of the Employment Rights Bill, as you know, is a recognition that what we have inherited—in the last Parliament, a signifi…”

“Everyone, regardless of politics, would recognise collective representation as a fundamental human right. Where people do not want that in their workplace, unions, in my experience, accept that. Of course, they will make the case for the benefits that they could bring, but it is really about people having the ability t…”

“I do not want to pull you up a little bit, but we did have a conversation about productivity, low investment and low growth. Fundamentally, in the section on the Budget, we talked about the need for public investment and capital investment to occur on the basis it now can occur under this Government. If you look to the…”

“That is not true. Generally, the recognition on a cross-party basis would be that the significant amount of money that went in at the end did not produce that. The public sector pay deals are, again, slightly beyond the remit of this Department, given that we principally deal with the private sector. There was a proces…”

“It is too pessimistic. Without getting too technical, in its forecasts the OBR assumes that the economy is at capacity at present and that the output gap between the potential size of the economy and the size of the economy will always narrow at the end of the forecast period. If it believes that the economy is at capa…”

“That is a really—”

“You are right to say that a challenge for industrial strategy in the UK is, first of all, that there are lots of pots of Government money that, without any question, constitute components of industrial strategy that are spread beyond the Department for Business and Trade.”

“The focus on eight sectors in the industrial strategy is important. If you want the highest growth in the G7, you have to recognise that a disproportionate amount of UK growth over the last 30 years has come from a relatively small number of sectors. It is extraordinary that since 1990 half of GDP growth in the UK has …”

“The strong evidence in our work shows how we will do that. First of all, there is the sheer sum of money that has come in through the international investment summit, which we did. If you look at some of the specific questions around the steel industry, the steel industry cannot hit the multiplier that we would ideally…”

“Yes, absolutely. I sometimes think of DBT as a box-to-box midfielder, joining up other bits of Government and always being here to help. I have talked about the relationship to other Cabinet members. I am serious when I say that one of the reasons that we should be so excited about the future of the UK is that I do not…”

“I happily give that commitment to the Committee. First of all, the fundamental policy change is the change from the apprenticeship levy to the growth and skills levy, which will give businesses much more flexibility. It is a policy that was designed very much in conjunction with businesses in order to do that. Skills E…”

“The first thing to say is there is no tension between a national industrial strategy and greater devolution. Look at the arrangements that work quite well in most countries. That example of skills is a really strong example of how a national framework and local delivery can work really well together. I have forgotten t…”

“The industrial strategy that existed briefly—I have said this publicly—under Greg Clark, when he was the Conservative colleague in charge of it, got to the heart of what an industrial strategy should be. It was not nostalgic. It was not some sort of protectionist attempt. It recognised that we have sectors of the econo…”

“Yes. This is a very significant priority, and you will almost certainly be aware by now of the news from Stellantis and Ford last week. This is a very difficult day for Luton particularly. I will say a bit more on this. I am at the SMMT’s annual dinner this evening. We cannot in any way undermine the transition that we…”

“Different OEMs have different issues, particularly if they are in both van and passenger vehicle manufacturing. Everyone agrees on the destination, but, without in any way changing how many EVs there will be on the road, we have to analyse whether the UK environment for automotive manufacturing is going to get us to th…”

“We have to be willing to do it. We do not want to undermine the destination, but let us look at what it has meant and what it means right now for British vehicle manufacturing. Right now, it is not working as anyone intended.”

“I will keep this relatively short, because I know there are a couple of issues you want to cover before we finish. First of all, the UK and this Department have a strong tradition of defending and regulating consumer markets where there are things that we are concerned about. I see competitive markets in these areas as…”

“You can get yourself into trouble if you pre-empt a consultation. As a Secretary of State, I have enough judicial reviews against me on a day-to-day basis. We are committed to tackling any area where we think the British consumer is not getting a fair deal. People just want to know that if they play by the rules and do…”

“The first thing I would say is that I cannot comment on that timescale or give commitments because it is a Cabinet Office responsibility as part of the machinery of Government that we inherited when we took over on 4 July. Mr Křetínský is the principal shareholder in Royal Mail and has already been through a National S…”