Matt Western
Main Page: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington) Industrial Strategy
Matt Western Excerpts(3 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate
Liam Byrne
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Perhaps the most critical test of the industrial strategy, when it is published, will be whether it brings industrial energy costs down. If it fails that test, it is going to struggle to make progress.
Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
I thank my right hon. Friend for his excellent chairship of the Committee. He spoke about the grand challenges we face. We heard in the evidence sessions how we have such structural challenges—we have just heard about energy, and we could say the same about skills particularly —so could he say a bit more about some of the work being done and the need for a whole-of-Government approach?
Liam Byrne
That is absolutely right. The challenges we face as a country are so large that no one Department, business or sector can solve them on their own. The only way to crack the code of that challenge and to reach our ambitions for the future is by mobilising a whole-of-society approach. Otherwise, frankly, we are going to fail and squander the potential in front of us.