Government must ‘offer hope’ to attract investment, CBI chief to argue

The government must “have and offer hope” in order to attract global investors to bet on and back Britain, the chief executive of the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) will argue.

In a rejection of No10 and the Treasury’s gloomy economic language, Rain Newton-Smith will use the CBI’s annual dinner in Glasgow to call for a more aspirational attitude.

She will warn: “We get the need to take a hard look at the economy. We know how difficult the last few years have been.

“But at the same time, I think the more we focus on that difficult inheritance, the harder it is in global boardrooms to make the pitch to invest in, come to, and stay in the UK. 

“So I think we must also have and offer hope.”

It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves again stressed that her October Budget would “require difficult decisions on tax, spending and welfare” – after a sombre summer of economic caution from No11 and the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly referenced what he and Reeves term the “£22bn black hole” in the public finances – despite HMT refusing to disclose key details of the spending pressures to the Financial Times (FT).

Newton-Smith will also stress the importance of making Scotland a “global clean energy superpower” in an effort to deliver a “mission critical… golden ticket” for the UK’s growth. 

She will urge ministers in Holyrood and Whitehall to unleash the “restless energy” of firms eager to help turn Scotland’s energy sector into a “dynamo for economic transformation”.

CBI research previously identified up to £57bn of UK green growth opportunities by 2030.  

Scotland, she will say, “has the tools at its fingertips” with “natural resources that are the envy of the world… vast bioenergy resources and a tidal range of up to eight metres”.

She will add: “When countries around the world are jockeying for position in green growth, you can’t just manufacture advantages like that.”

Government should stabilise energy profits taxes for the sake of “fiscal certainty”, she will state, adding: “But there’s only so much we in business can do ourselves without clear direction, plans and backing from the government.

“Businesses have a restless energy to go for growth, to invest, but they need really clear signals from governments north and south of the border to lay down their markers.”  

Ministers should outline a clear net zero investment plan, formalise the role of GB Energy and the National Wealth Fund as to “how they’ll complement and stimulate the private sector, rather than duplicating or even displacing it”.