Free information and free broadband – business policies of the future?

Us folk in business are a straightforward lot. Yes, we like big picture ideas and visions of the future – but we also need real-life, practical policies and plans. And with nine months to go until the general election the business community is hungry for greater clarity on what Labour business policy will actually be.

The latest offering from Policy Network, Owning The Future, edited by Chuka Umunna, is rich in big ideas about Britain’s role in the global economy. Celebrity economist Jim O’Neill argues about the growing influence of developing economies on Britain. Carlotta Perez of the London School of Economics makes an impassioned case for a commitment to green growth.

These are important matters. But, it’s writing on innovation – one of four pillars of Labour’s Agenda 2030 – where we find more satisfying and concrete ideas. They include encouraging more business hubs, dedicating more spending to research & development and free access to broadband internet.

Sherry Coutu, an angel investor, provides some thoughtful ideas on how to make it easier for fast-growing British business to ‘scale up’. She says that the “single most empowering act” would be for government to release data on which companies are growing the fastest in our communities. Of course this would be especially ‘empowering’ for angel investors (wealthy people who finance start ups). But there’s no doubt that such transparency would make it easier and faster to get finance to companies who need and merit it.

Former minister, (Lord) David Sainsbury, hits us with a list of three key concrete industrial policies a new government should adopt – a 10-year plan for the funding of science, greater support to small tech companies rolling out products and ring-fencing R&D spend to support UK industry.

David Cleevely, a successful tech entrepreneur from Cambridge, draws on his experience to offer practical ideas to support fast-growing small businesses. He’s crystal clear that promoting business clusters or hubs is the single most important policy government could offer – arguing clusters create a snowball of success.

He also lends his weight to the case for making fast broadband universally available – ranking the technology importance to our daily lives alongside the wheel, writing and printing.

This book does echo how Umunna has built strong relationships with many influential business and academic figures who are serious about supporting a new era of active business policy. His well-crafted foreword shows both a firm grasp of major issues at hand as well as a passion for his role.

But there are some missing elements from the book. While this is not a manifesto document, at this stage in the cycle we would have benefitted hugely from authors addressing other pillars of Labour’s 2030 agenda. We get little in the way of solid ideas to develop the skills of Britain’s young to compete in an ever more global workplace. No author examines how an ambitious, Labour-led investment bank might foster a more long-term business culture. So close to the election, these would have been valuable additions.

Jeremy Adams is a committee member of Labour in the City