Digby-Jones:Private and Public need to work together

Lord Digby Jones, the former trade minister under Gordon Brown's administration, told delegates at the Trustmarque Solutions 2011 conference in London that the public and private sectors must rise to the challenge from globalisation.

Jones, who issued a call to arms for UK industry and the public sector to address three significant changes in order to realise "the most enormous prize" of succeeding in a globalised world dominated by China's growth and the future industrialisation of India.

"We have to rebalance the economy between public and private sector," Jones told the conference room. "We have to get the public finances back into shape. It really does matter that you can say the UK economy is stable again."

"We should be saying for people losing their jobs, 'We will retrain you'. [Taking such a stance] is a long term investment to my country," he said, and stated people would have to relocate in order to get a job.

Lord Jones also argued the government should stop taxing people on national minimum wage, as well as abolish employer's National Insurance.  "It has nothing to do with the money you make," he told delegates. "That is mad at a time when we need to stimulate employment. The government has to be clear and incisive."

He also called for more and better skilled people, describing it "a national disgrace" that one-fifth of adults in the UK cannot read to the standard of an 11-year old. "That is the challenge," he commented. "You cannot get that small business to take on one person more if they say the person is not skilled."

Lord Jones also said the public sector should invest in better schools, and a more efficient NHS. "I need an efficient tax collection service so it pays for what we need to do," he added.

"You can't do that without kit, so we need better IT. We need capital investment and we need to train people to use it."

At the end of a passionate speech to the conference, Digby Jones said if the country invested, "in our future with the proper kit and the people with proper skills, and if we rise to the challenge, then there is not a thing this nation cannot do - because we are good enough. But if we don't, then our kids will never forgive us."