Industrialist and Labour peer Swraj Paul has called for an independent inquiry into Britain’s deepening banking crisis saying that was hurting the country’s reputation abroad.
Speaking in the House of Lords, he described it as “the biggest issue’’ facing the British economy.
“This is so fundamental to our national economy that it must be investigated intensively, and resolved. And resolution must avoid any political point scoring, as the whole country needs to have its faith restored in the financial sector... It has also hurt the reputation not only of the UK financial services, but the country as a whole. We cannot afford that,” he said.
Lord Paul, declaring his “interest” in the state of British economy as chairman of the Caparo Group, highlighted the decline of British manufacturing over the years and called for a more “supportive environment” for businesses.
“Today, many manufacturers feel that a more positive and creative approach by government will help to engender those conditions that enable them to maximise their potential,” he said pointing out that despite a slight improvement in the manufacturing sector it was still a pale shadow of its past.
“Britain is now the ninth largest manufacturer in the world – though a far cry from our ranking in the past. My own experience and evaluation tells me that, given appropriate encouragement, we can substantially enhance that position.”
Lord Paul also called for more investment in research and development with greater interaction between universities and the industrial sector.
“In my distant youth, My Lords, I was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There I saw how the government and the corporate sector worked together with the universities to carry out industrial research for which the universities were paid. This strengthened the financial position of the universities while providing innovative ideas and product design to the corporates and to the government. We have made some progress in this but I would suggest consideration of a crash programme where government resources anchor such inter-connections,’’ he said.
