'We've made mistakes' admits MP, on Government record ahead of industrial strategy announcement

Ahead of an expected update on a new industrial strategy this week, Mr Byrne said "difficult conversations" with businesses across the West Midlands would be necessary as the Government attempts to change the course of the country's industry - admitting the current Labour government has made some "significant mistakes" up to this point.

In October, the Government published a first draft of its plans for "Invest 2035", a new set of industrial policies intended to focus government proposals on growth sectors, as well as creating a "pro-business environment", with the government hoping to work with businesses, trade unions and experts. 

The Business and Trade Committee which Mr Byrne chairs has been on the road since the green paper was published, listening to feedback from businesses across the country, and is expected to deliver a number of conclusions via an report to Parliament this week.

"We've got to do things differently in the future," Mr Byrne told assembled business leaders at Richardson Ltd in Oldbury. 

"We're at one of the moments in history, and we have them once every 40 or 50 years, where theres a big set of geo-political shocks, and a big set of questions about the sovereign capabilities of the country, and from that we get into a debate about how the state and the government is going to change.

"Making the shift is difficult, perilous, fraught with risk, and frankly the government has made a number of significant mistakes along the way, but the best chance we've got of getting that shift in direction right, is if we have business experience at the heart of the operation.

"What's clear to me, is that we're not going to change our country, our business community or our governance unless we find better ways to work together."

Industrial Strategies have traditionally been used to describe Government interventions that support the development of particular industries, historically used in the UK to support manufacturing and heavy industry. However the new proposals will provide a Government framework for interventions which help shape the direction of enterprise more generally, it says.

Mr Byrne, MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill & Solihull North, added that a reset of relations with the European Union was high on the list of issues the Government would need to resolve via its new strategy.

"The one thing that loomed over and above all of it was access to markets. It's too difficult to sell stuff in Europe, we're all worried about the peril of traiffs coming from the US," he added.

"We like the sound of some of the new free trade deals but the customs arrangements are a complete nightmare when it comes to our biggest and closest markets in Europe.

"There was no one particular issue that stood out - but there's a lot of things to iron out.... Whether it was building, transport, infrastructure or planning, there's just a whole ton of issues in that bucket."

The Business and Trade Committee is due to publish a report to Parliament on Thursday. The Government's industrial strategy white paper is expected in June.