will address the CBI Annual
Conference in Birmingham today (Monday 22nd) for the
second time as Labour leader.
Building on the explicitly pro-business stance taken in his
Labour conference speech in September, he will outline Labour’s
‘contract’ with business under the next Labour government,
cementing the Party’s commitment to fiscal discipline and
investment in skills.
Labelling “the battle for talent one of the defining issues of
the 21st Century”, he will address how Labour will
work with business to solve skills shortages and cement a more
productive economy.
Promising ‘a stable government and a tight ship’, is expected to say:
“Our five fiscal rules make it plain that we
will never spend money just for the sake of it. We absolutely
don’t think that the solution to every problem is to throw cash
at it.
“Labour will establish an Office for Value for Money. To chase
down every penny we spend. Just as every one of you scrutinizes
the cost side of your business, constantly asking yourself if
investments are paying off, we will do the same on behalf of the
tax paying public.”
The Labour leader is also expected to call out the impact
on business of Boris Johnson’s approach to governing:
“A company which employed a sitting Conservative MP
received £133 million for test kits which had to be recalled
because they didn’t work. This isn’t magic money the Tories are
wasting. It’s your money.
“There is no industrial strategy, no business plan.
The Budget was an opportunity to remake Britain and it was
an opportunity missed.
On negotiating Brexit, is expected to
say:
“The government thinks that all it has to do is say the words
"Get Brexit Done.” It has absolutely no plan to Make Brexit
Work. Just to be clear, Labour is not planning a re-match,
but it is obvious that a poorly thought-through Brexit is holding
Britain back.
“Trust matters in international negotiations, but with this Prime
Minister that ingredient is missing. Instead, what we get is a
series of pantomime disputes, which is no good for British
business or for the British people.”
The Labour leader will flesh out his Party’s commitment
to “Make Brexit Work”:
“We all have a duty to make Brexit work. We would seek
regulatory equivalence for financial services, and mutual
recognition of professional qualifications, because we absolutely
recognise the importance of looking after our world-class
financial and professional service businesses.
“We would seek to maintain Britain’s data adequacy status, making
our data protection rules equivalent to those in the EU, to
secure UK digital services companies’ competitiveness.
“We’d also seek a better long-term deal for UK hauliers to ease
the supply chain problems we are seeing.
“I believe all of this is achievable by robustly defending our
interests, and patiently negotiating.”
Ends
Editor’s Notes:
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addresses the CBI annual
conference at 1330 on Monday.
