Backing Business to Create Economic Growth

Sarah Smith Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The House may not know this, but Hyndburn was the engine of the industrial revolution, for it was in Oswaldtwistle, where I live, that James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny back in 1765, which revolutionised the cotton industry. This spinning machine enabled subsequent advancements in textiles machinery, which ultimately paved the way for the mechanisation of the entire manufacturing process. What is often missed in the story about James is that he faced opposition to his invention by the weavers, who smashed up his house and forced him out of town. The spinning jenny brought down the cost of yarn, and it was natural for those workers to be fearful of the impact that this would have on their livelihoods. It was right that they sought to protect their future, but through this innovation and those that followed, the mills in Accrington, Oswaldtwistle and Great Harwood, and the workers who powered them, became the backbone of our economy.

Today, I believe that we can draw lessons from that history. We stand once again on the precipice of a new industrial revolution. We stand at a point in history that will be examined closely by future generations. AI is a bright new technology that offers us huge hope and opportunity. Indeed, when I asked it what the biggest opportunities of AI are, it told me that it is less about replacing humans and more about expanding what humans can do at scale. However, there is also plenty to be wary of. AI is going to cause the greatest amount of disruption, particularly to industries such as coding, law, accountancy and other highly skilled professions.

Alongside this technical revolution, there is the fact that the era of globalisation as we know it is over. The risk of being dependent on foreign capabilities for our data storage, our defence capabilities and our manufacturing, and for the skills that we need to build our economy and support our businesses, so that they can thrive, cannot be overstated. The solution is to back British business, to buy British, to make British bricks—ideally, the Accrington Nori bricks—to build British houses, to be proudly patriotic, and to create the conditions in my constituency and across this country for our businesses to thrive, to invest, to grow and to create the jobs that are needed.

I was pleased to see in the King’s Speech that we will

“deploy the power of an active State in partnership with business and enable reforms that support higher growth and a fair deal for working people.”

I urge the Government to go further and faster on that commitment, whether it is on procurement policy, energy policy or cutting red tape. We need an industrial strategy that outlines how investment will deliver the jobs, supply chains and sovereign capability in the skills and infrastructure that we need for the future. This is not a time for making tweaks around the edges; it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet the scale of the challenge and to build back better.

In places like Hyndburn, we need active intervention by the state on things like infrastructure. For example, there is an opportunity for a freight terminal in Huncoat, and the chance to support RedCAT, a catapult in my constituency that needs funding to help businesses bring products to scale. That could be a game changer for many local businesses—Senator Group, Emerson & Renwick, What More UK, Rospen Industries, Langtec, Fagan & Whalley, and so many more.

I want to cover briefly the importance of skills. I am proud of the progress that the Government are making in this area, and I am pleased that the current Session will focus on apprenticeships, tackling youth unemployment and, of course, a plan for SEND. I hope that these plans will put colleges, such as those in the East Lancashire Learning Group, at the heart of the Government’s ambitions. It is time that college teachers had pay equity with other teachers. It is time that colleges received the respect that they deserve, and the funding that they need to help our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students. We can be the Government who put right the wrongs of the Tories and finally unlock the potential of millions of young people.

Before I close, I offer one final word to my hon. and learned Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and to her successor as Economic Secretary to the Treasury. There is £120 million sitting there, stuck in children’s tax funds for children who lack the capacity to access them. If we can break this, that money will go directly into local economies across the country. I hope that point is not lost as my hon. and learned Friend takes on her new job.

The King’s Speech is clear in its ambition to increase growth, expand investment and improve our public services. It is a Labour programme due to the fundamental belief that underpins it: that access to opportunity is for all. I look forward to working with colleagues to support and strengthen the Bills that will come before us in the Session ahead.