SIR MIKE RAKE | FIRST PERSON
A PROGRESSIVE UNITED KINGDOM IN A GLOBAL WORLD
SIR MIKE RAKE President of the CBI
Over the course of the decades since the end of the Second World War, the UK has made a positive decision to adopt an outward-facing view of the world and embrace globalisation in a whole- hearted way. Britain, which has always been a trading nation, has opened itself up to the world and thus to investment and people from overseas more than any other country in the world. During that period, Britain’s global
businesses have become increasingly important in terms of leading the country’s economic progress. We have benefited enormously from investment and skills from overseas. One only has to look at our car industry, which employs 700,000 skilled people, operates in key export markets and yet is almost 100 per cent foreign- owned. Companies such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover are all world- class and British-based. The CBI has been a strong voice to both
government and the wider public on why globalisation and Britain’s place in it is important.
We have worked hard to ensure regular access to political leaders from all parties and have stressed the importance to UK business of resisting the temptation to embark on populist protectionist measures that would damage the UK’s position in the world economy. The CBI has a real role to play in explaining
the benefits to the UK of immigration. And some of the facts may be uncomfortable for politicians. All the statistics, including government’s, show positive net benefit from skilled migration to the UK, both in terms of fiscal contribution and overcoming skills shortages. Migrants are also much less likely to claim benefits than native workers and tend to go home when they are unemployed. As the baby boomer generation retires, we will need to ensure we have access to the skills needed to keep our world-leading industries on the road. That means a revolution in our vocational training system, where there is much still to do, but a global UK will also benefit from the best talent from around the world.
BRITAIN IN EUROPE I am, however, deeply disturbed by the fact that in 2015 we seem to be moving to a position where the UK might not play the role in the world that it has played over the centuries — a small and global player with an open and pragmatic society that welcomes investment and immigration. While the decision to offer a referendum on membership of the European Union is rightly a constitutional matter for government, the uncertainty caused by proposing it cannot be underplayed. We need to be clear: a UK outside the
EU will be totally irrelevant from an economic, political and military point of view. Membership of the EU’s single market remains fundamental to our economic future and we should remain in a reformed EU, rather than outside with minimal influence. We can contribute towards positive change and push the business agenda for greater investment and higher levels of productivity, which both the UK and other EU countries need to compete in the world economy. »
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