Labour MPs told Prime Minister Burnham the government’s pledge to revive
industry may be hard to deliver because current policies still tilt toward
services rather than manufacturing. Burnham has made industrial revival a core
priority and pledged to publish a 10-year development plan within weeks, ahead
of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget. Labour MPs say progress is slow and
lacks ambition and warn ministers have yet to reach consensus on investing
beyond urban services. Andy McNair, chair of Labour’s reindustrialisation
research group, said a long-standing orthodoxy favours a services-led economy
and reliance on cheap imports; he added that while creating manufacturing jobs
is popular, government attention remains focused on city-driven GDP growth.
