At what promises to be a politically charged conference next week with some big debates about growth, infrastructure, tax and spending cuts, I thought you might be interested to see the fringe meetings I’m doing on a Conservative Industrial Policy for a sustainable economic recovery. I’m speaking at 10 fringe meetings – list below – stressing 3 key points: [read more]

Infrastructure investment is essential to a coherent plan for growth and economic recovery. The economic crisis we face as a result of the collapse of Labour’s debt-fuelled boom is a stark reminder of our over-reliance on retail, housing and public sector spending and the scale of the challenge we now face in constructing a more sustainable model of economic competiveness. We can’t borrow our way out of a debt crisis. We will have to trade our way out. [read more]

If we’re serious about generating economic growth on a rebalanced economy, areas like East Anglia are vital in driving forward innovation and entrepreneurship. [read more]

We won't unlock a 21st century economy with 19th century transport and communications infrastructure. Woeful under-investment in infrastructure over the last 40 years has left too much of Britain already at gridlock at peak times. Our transport infrastructure reflects the imbalances in our national economy: too little long term investment, too much dependence on servicing unsustainable booms in the City, housing, public sector and retail and too little thinking about how we unlock new sources of sustainable economic growth. [read more]

In my regional paper, the EDP, I wrote today about how we must not let a crisis go to waste. By that I mean that challenges often lead to radical innovation and we cannot afford this reforming opportunity to pass us by. [read more]