May's '10 pillars' industrial strategy signals active role for government

Theresa May has revealed the 10 pillars of her industrial strategy for the UK economy, ahead of a trip to Washington to meet new US President Donald Trump at the end of the week. Having clarified her position on the government's Brexit strategy last week, the mid-point of a key fortnight for the Prime Minister saw her set out a green paper that aims to boost productivity, link in with the Chancellor's plans to increase spending on infrastructure and generally see the government play a more active role in boosting business. At her first regional cabinet meeting, May published the public consultation paper that outlined the intention to increase spending on broadband, transport and energy networks as well as ramp up government support for the high-growth sectors of life sciences, green vehicles, industrial digitalisation, creative industries and nuclear via sector-specific deals with industries that make a good case for how state support will address their specific problems.