Take the current state of our labour market.
So much of this comes back to public services.
Yes, there are other factors but you can’t tell me the number of older people falling out of work has nothing to do with the millions stuck on NHS waiting lists, or that the growing number of people suffering with mental health isn’t a drag on our productivity.
No – the state of our public services is an economic crisis just as much as a social crisis.
So we will launch the biggest training programme since the creation of the NHS – increase capacity with more doctors, more nurses, more health visitors, reform the employment service to get more people back to work, give everyone who needs it access to mental health treatment within four weeks, and build a modern childcare system that supports parents – especially women – to flourish.
This is what the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls: “modern supply-side economics”.
And that’s the philosophy that will drive us to do the hard yards on growth.
But we’ll also need to be pragmatic on the basic lack of people.
We won’t ignore the need for workers to come to this country. We can’t have a situation, as we did with HGV drivers, where temporary shortages threaten to cripple entire sectors of our economy. That would be anti-growth and anti-business.
But I want to be clear here – with my Labour Government, any movement in our points-based migration system – whether via the skilled worker route, or the shortage occupations list – will come alongside new conditions for business.
We will expect you to bring forward a clear plan to boost skills and more training, for better pay and conditions, for investment in new technology.
We can talk about how this is done – dialogue is at the heart of partnership but negotiation with trade unions will be part of it.
I said at the TUC conference: my Labour Party is unashamedly pro-business and I say here today – that trade unions must be a crucial part of our partnership.
But our common goal must be to help the British economy off its immigration dependency to start investing more in training workers who are already here.
Migration is part of our national story – always has been, always will be and the Labour Party will never diminish the contribution it makes to our economy, to public services, to your businesses and our communities.
But let me tell you – the days when low pay and cheap labour are part of the British way on growth must end.
This isn’t about Brexit.
All around the world, business is waking up to the fact we live in a new era for labour.
And while they’re adapting, our low-wage model is holding us back.
It’s why we’ve set out a New Deal for Working People that will deliver higher pay, stronger rights and better work – not just for social justice, but also for the new reality on growth.
Let me give you an example – technology.
Britain has fewer industrial robots than almost every comparable countries.
We’re behind Germany, France, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, Belgium – it’s a long list.
And in terms of competition over the long run, one that borders on a disaster.
Now, I know most businesses get this.
I’ve seen for myself how you invest in your people and their productivity.
At Vaillant in Derbyshire, I met the apprentices using their skills in conjunction with the new technologies of heat pumps.
That technology will continue to adapt and those apprentices will be at the forefront of that change. Working today, training for the opportunities of the future.
But when we look at the economy as a whole it can seem like we’re more comfortable hiring people to work in low paid, insecure, sometimes exploitative contracts, than we are investing in the new technology that delivers for workers, productivity and our country.
And we can’t compete like that.
Britain’s low pay model has to go.
It doesn’t serve working people.
It’s not compatible with grassroots growth
