Time to talk business and economy

Labour promotes social safety net. A good social safety net is necessary to encourage people to take risks and invest in themselves: take training opportunities, start a new job, and invest in a new business. They can afford to be adventurous and creative. The social safety net not only includes benefits and allowances but also includes health safety, i.e. our NHS. People know if they fail, if they are sick, they will still be supported. Labour's longstanding policies of protecting benefits and NHS are good for business.  

​

We need to diversify industries. According to the research by the National Office of Statistics, people who stay in the same job have low earning growth. Earning is increased if a person changes their job. Earnings increase even more when people move between different industries. A diversified economy creates such opportunities to change jobs and move between industries. We should endeavour to attract investment in a variety of industries and build a diversified economy, so people can increase their earnings. A diversified economy is more stable and more resistant to changes.

​

Enlarge the job pool. In the post-pandemic world, some changes are permanent, e.g. remote working. Investing in high-speed internet and railways would enable people to work remotely for companies located in other regions and potentially make higher incomes. They could live in an area with plenty of natural beauty and work for a company hundreds of miles away. Of course, many people long for a personal touch at work, periodic team meetings could help. Some jobs cannot have remote work. We need good transport infrastructure for those. 

​

Provide vocational training. As I said above, changing jobs and moving between industries is key to higher earnings. We should provide training opportunities for people to gain the ability to change jobs and industries. The training industry itself provides good quality jobs. 

Look long term, look international. Globalisation is not over. When workers in other countries have bad working conditions and are paid low wages, it will pull down the wages in the UK. Protectionism is not a long-term solution, because it pushes up the living cost. Instead, we should come back to the root of the socialist movement “Workers of the world, unite!” We need to have a labour movement globalisation. We need to build an international workers’ alliance to improve workers’ earnings everywhere to improve workers' earnings here.