MP, Labour’s Shadow
Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will
today outline Labour’s plan to ensure the fourth industrial
revolution serves the many, not the few.
MP, Shadow Secretary
for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, speaking at the
’s Annual Conference in
Brighton, will say:
On the huge social and economic changes bring brought about by
the fourth industrial revolution:
“The pace of change we have seen in the last 20 years will pale
in comparison to the next 20.
“Over the last few centuries, we have gradually learnt how to
transfer more and more human skills to machines.
“With current technological breakthroughs, we are, for the first
time, designing machines that do cognitive and non-routine work.
Machines that think.
“But, with some estimates suggesting that half of all jobs could
be lost to automation and that few businesses are ready to
harness change, it also brings the threat of rising poverty and
inequality.”
Only a Labour Government will ensure the fourth industrial
revolution serves the many, not the few:
“There is no doubt about what the digital age will look like
under the Tories: monopoly profits for the few, and increased
exploitation for the many.
“Only Labour will ensure that workers and businesses are equipped
to enjoy the prosperity this changing economy can bring.”
On workers’ rights:
“We’ll restore the rights of workers – rolling out sectoral
collective bargaining and guaranteeing unions access to the
workplace – to ensure that new technology is not just an excuse
for disgraced old employment practices.
“Because there is nothing cutting edge about hire-and-fire,
casual contracts.”
On supporting business and industry:
“We’ll bring investment in research and development in line with
other major economies and create national missions to deal with
the big issues of our time.
“And our National Education Service will allow every single
person in this country to obtain the skills they need to thrive
in a modern economy and ensure real diversity in our workplaces.
“But it’s not enough for Britain to innovate – We’ll put Britain
at the forefront of industrial manufacturing, so that the ideas
conceived in Britain are manufactured and delivered here.”
And by thinking about alternative models of business and
ownership for a digital age:
“Imagine if the technology which allows us to hail a taxi or
order a takeaway via an app was shared by those who rely on it
for work.
“They would have the power to agree their own terms and
conditions and rates of pay, with the profits shared among them
or re-invested for the future.
“That’s why we are today launching a Report on Alternative Models
of Ownership.
“To start asking fundamental questions about how we achieve real
diversity of business in the digital age, and how to ensure that
it’s enormous potential benefits serve the many, not the few.”
