The government is committed to improving UK growth. A big contribution to this could come from optimising our current road and rail systems and making improvements where these will give the greatest benefits. A lot is happening that is providing new opportunities to improve transport for people and freight. For example, the government is taking overall control of rail transport, mayoral authorities are taking greater roles in local transport, better journey information is available from smart phones, and new innovations such as electric bikes and driverless taxis are introducing new and appealing travel options. We have therefore invited Ruth Cadbury MP, Chair of the Transport Select Committee to lead this roundtable on the subject of ‘An integrated plan for the UK road and rail networks.’

Doom mongering about politics and the world was suspended for a few hours this week for the Industry Forum annual spring reception, at the House of Commons. The keynote speaker was Emily Darlington MP for Milton Keynes and a member of Dame Chi Onwurah’s Select Committee for Science, Innovation and Technology. Emily, taking time off from electoral campaigning, was in buoyant form promoting the high tech, city of Milton Keynes and the promise of science and technology for the UK. The event was sponsored by the leading UK telecoms company, newly merged VodafoneThree. George Robinson, Head of Government Affairs at VodafoneThree welcomed guests and said a few cheerful words about the progress of the merger. It is clear that a strong digital communications infrastructure can help meet the government’s growth aims and that a big new player like VodafoneThree will help to achieve this. After the formalities, the reception turned into a party with members, business guests, diplomats and academics networking and making new contacts in the way that they have for done since the Industry Forum was set up 33 years ago.

The Industry Forum were delighted to welcome Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, to lead a roundtable on ‘Increasing trade in plants, agricultural products, food and drink.’ This is vital for the government’s overall plans to increase growth, and also vital for the sectors concerned. The meeting was sponsored by the Horticultural Trades Association whose CEO, Fran Barnes opened the meeting by outlining the significant issues facing HTA members as a result of the UK’s position outside the EU, our largest market. With industry specialists, major retailers and some EU diplomats present, the meeting ranged widely over the issues faced by many product sectors. It was clear that the government shares the objectives of business and is working as fast as possible to cover the many legislative changes and other practical steps needed to bring the UK and EU into better alignment, and reduce the serious trade frictions and unnecessary costs caused by Brexit.

Despite a broken wrist, the Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh CBE MP was in sparkling form leading a packed Industry Forum round table. Wes Ball, Senior VP at the host, Edelman welcomed guests and Rod Dowler introduced the topic ‘Representing Nature and Business in a circular economy.’ There is a widespread awareness of the shortsightedness of ignoring the impact of business activities on nature, but it is an enormous task to align manufacturing, packaging, distribution and reuse of materials in way that makes commercial and environmental sense. Nevertheless, the government has already made considerable progress on specific issues such as standardisation of recycling classifications, a deposit return scheme for drinks bottles and cans, creation of the Western Forest, near Bristol and the release into the wild of the first beavers in the UK for 300 years; it has ambitions to do much more to help businesses and consumers move towards a circular economy. Among the wide variety of businesses present there was considerable enthusiasm for the government’s plans. Discussion focussed on the many timetabling and implementation issues that inevitably arise. Such is the interest in this complex topic that we hope to return to it later in the year.

The urgent questions facing Europe were the highly topical subject of last week’s Industry Forum roundtable to discuss our research paper, ‘Europe on the Brink.’ In particular, the proposal that European nations should consider creating a new ‘Alliance for Defence and Democracy,’ which could rapidly assume responsibility for the unified defence of Europe. The meeting was hosted by Stephen Hockman KC at his chambers, 6 Pump Court, and the meeting was opened by a strong panel of European experts, Dr Denis MacShane, Dr Jonathan Leader Maynard and Brendan Donnelly, and followed by a discussion involving the businesspeople, diplomats and academics present. The gravity of Europe’s current position was agreed, and the dangers arising from a lack of political unity among the European nations, and serious policy disagreements with the US. Other important factors discussed were that in conventional arms Russia has likely been weakened by sanctions and the Ukraine war while Europe has increased its conventional arms capability. Political developments and initiatives are changing the situation almost daily and there was a view that the existing 34 nation ‘Coalition of the Willing’ on Ukraine, together with initiatives by the EU such as the ‘Security Action For Europe,’ may evolve into an approach which could meet the Russian threat, and also avoid a deep split with the US. This is a crucial topic, with big implications for European businesses and economies. Almost at the same time as our meeting, the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz was powerfully covering similar points on the much larger stage of the Munich Security conference. The key factors which will influence decision-makers include: the heavy price of US military support for Europe; the need to combat Russian efforts to prevent European unity and split NATO, and how to give Europe a strong independent voice in international affairs. We hope to work with other organisations to address some of these subjects later in the year. We apologise that we didn’t cover the enormous implications for climate change of the major diversion of investment to defence - we haven’t forgotten.

Alert! Dangers ahead for business! This was the unmistakable message from this week’s Industry Forum roundtable on the potential benefits of proportional representation for the UK economy. Anna Dixon MBE, MP for Shipley, a long-term advocate of electoral reform, opened the meeting, which was attended by Industry Forum business members, academics and, as guests, a number of campaigning organisations including Make Votes Matter, Best for Britain and Labour For a New Democracy. The key new factor in British politics is that the old duopoly of power between the Labour and Conservative parties has dissolved into a complex multiparty system. The big risk for business is resulting economic instability as the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system turns UK national elections into a lottery. In 2024 Labour were big winners of this lottery with far more seats than their vote share. Next time the winner could be a minority government committed to reversing trade agreements, political alliances and infrastructure investment plans. Such a possible outcome can, even now, paralyse business planning and investment and undermine government growth plans. An alternative system of proportional representation could better represent voter wishes and would moderate policy swings. With the recent example of the severe damage to the UK economy caused by Brexit, this is clearly an issue that UK businesses need to take seriously. Radical change is always hard, but with the current economic and military threats to Europe, and the need for greater European unity, the case for bold action to reform our UK voting system appears strong.