0:00
Well, on his visit to China alongside
0:01
the prime minister, the business
0:02
secretary, Peter Kyle, said, "We are in
0:05
China where growth is 5%. I was in
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America a couple of weeks ago where it's
0:09
4.3%." And he added, "Why the hell is
0:12
Britain at 1%." As for Peter Kyle, he
0:15
ought to have spent the flight back from
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China reading a new report from the Adam
0:18
Smith Institute. It's called The Growth
0:20
Agenda. The findings appear to come as a
0:22
perfect answer to his why are we only at
0:24
1% question. In a nutshell, the
0:27
researchers say the problems are the
0:29
UK's extraordinarily high industrial
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energy costs compounded by the rush to
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net zero, a complicated and inefficient
0:35
tax system, and a planning system that
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stands as the single most damaging
0:39
barrier to economic growth. The detail
0:42
of their critique and the clarity of
0:43
their policy recommendations mean the
0:45
report should be required reading for
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all MPs. It's not too late to prove
0:50
these economic forecasters wrong, but
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time is running out and we can't afford
0:54
for ministers to stand around scratching
