UK industrial strategy aims to ‘take sting out of Brexit’

The Government today published its industrial strategy to make Britain more productive as two pharma giants announced a £1bn investment in Britain that will create up to 1,750 high-skilled jobs.

Business Secretary Greg Clark’s plan has been almost a year in the making and “will see ministers agree dozens of sector deals with different parts of industry to drive the economy forward and reverse Britain’s productivity crisis”, says Politico’s Jack Blanchard. A central focus will be the technologies of the future, including AI, driverless cars, medical technology and clean energy.

Clark claims the new industrial strategy will “take the sting out of” the Brexit uncertainty, but commentators have questioned how the UK can be competitive without a trade deal to move goods between countries in a cost-effective manner.

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Former Tory deputy PM Lord Heseltine “poured cold water” on the plan, says the Financial Times, suggesting the most obvious way for the UK to boost growth and productivity would be to stop Brexit.

The publication of the 255-page white paper comes days after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - the official forecasting body - revised downward its UK growth forecast.

The good news for the UK is is that life science firms Merck and Qiagen are creating hundreds of jobs with nearly £1bn in investment in London and Manchester, says HuffPost’s Paul Waugh.