Jeremy Hunt has no plan for growth, says CBI boss

The Chancellor’s autumn statement offers no plan to revive economic growth, the head of Britain’s largest business lobby told the BBC.

Tony Danker of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said Mr Hunt had instead prioritized stability.

Mr Danker said that without higher growth, the UK cannot afford the rising costs of health and social care.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the post-Brexit freedoms would help boost “high-growth” industries.

In his autumn statement last week, Mr Hunt laid out £55bn of spending cuts and tax increases to bring down soaring prices while protecting public services.

At the same time, the government’s economic forecaster warned households could face the biggest drop in living standards in the next few years as the cost of living skyrocketed and the country slipped into recession.

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Mr Danker said Mr Hunt’s statement was “all about fighting inflation and getting the state budget in decent shape and that has to be done”.

But he added that “there was really nothing telling us that the economy will avoid another decade of low productivity and low growth.”

“Jeremy Hunt has done some things that will be very welcome, but he’s also done business and everyone’s paying more taxes, so you’re afraid there just wasn’t enough to turn around and say, ‘We can grow again ‘”, he said .

“So I don’t think he’s done enough, I think he needs to come back with more.”

Mr Hunt’s autumn statement was largely designed to calm financial markets after the controversy sparked in September over his predecessor’s mini-budget.

Kwasi Kwarteng promised big tax cuts to boost growth, but the unfunded plans scared investors and caused government borrowing costs to skyrocket.

Mr Danker, who initially welcomed elements of the former Chancellor’s plans, told the BBC the tax cuts had clearly backfired.

However, he said other proposals by Mr Kwarteng – such as relaxing immigration, regulation and planning laws – would need to be re-examined.

The CBI, which represents 190,000 UK companies, will begin its annual conference on Monday.

The UK economy has underperformed other developed nations over the past decade and the country is expected to remain in recession for the rest of next year.

Part of the problem is global as energy and food prices have skyrocketed this year due to the war in Ukraine and Covid.

But the UK also faces significant labor supply challenges, while Brexit makes it harder for small businesses to trade with Europe or access the talent they need.

According to a Sunday Times report, senior government officials are now examining how to forge closer ties with the European Union to boost growth.

This could see the UK move to a Swiss-style arrangement where it pays into the EU budget to remove trade barriers, although it would not accept free movement like Switzerland, the newspaper reported.

Mr Barclay, the former Brexit secretary, told Laura Kuenssberg he “didn’t see that story” and it wasn’t on the horizon.

He also said Mr Hunt took action in the autumn statement to encourage growth.

“We have protected the research and development budget increase to £20 billion. We have infrastructure investments of £600 billion. We are using the greater opportunities of our freedoms through Brexit.”

He said the UK will now use its “regulatory autonomy” to find new opportunities in high-growth sectors such as green energy, digital, financial services and life sciences.