Tory industrial strategy?

With manufacturing and industrial output much lower than predicted, Frances O`Grady has every right to insist that the Tory government should prioritise in "improving their industrial strategy". When the TUC general secretary added that the Autumn Statement`s investment package "was far too small", she was not exaggerating.

  Hammond`s spending of £23billion on a "national productivity investment fund" didn`t even lead the Office for Budget Responsibilty to alter its forecasts for the coming months, with the gradually phased increase having such little effect on emeployment and productivity.

   As with Brexit, it appears there is no plan for industrial growth, just as Cameron and Osborne conned the voters with their "long-term economic plan". No doubt we will hear in the coming months, the term "industrial strategy" repeated by Tories over and over, but constant repetition doesn`t prove existence, as has already been shown with Tory alleged concern for the "just about managing".

      If the Tories were really serious about increasing productivity, their rhetoric about top executives` pay would be converted into action. Business leaders` greed for obscene levels of renumeration has led to short-termism, with more thought on meeting this year`s targets than budgeting for the future with investment in technology and training. Capping bosses` pay, or setting a maximum pay ratio, are not even on the Tories` agenda!