Theresa May is expected to launch a consultation on her flagship industrial strategy next week
Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to launch a consultation on her much heralded industrial strategy early next week.
City A.M. can exclusively reveal that Downing Street has pencilled in Tuesday to launch a long-awaited green paper on the topic, with May expected outline the plans personally.
It comes after the Prime Minister has made two speeches in as many fortnights to launch her “sharing society” agenda, and lay out her Brexit plans.
The industrial strategy, and her plans for housing due later this month, are expected to form two further legs of her attempts to establish her personal ideology as Prime Minister.
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The launch will come days after business secretary Greg Clark engaged in a whistle-stop series of roundtables with business groups to discuss the green paper under the banner of “industry vision”.
Speaking to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee in mid-December, Clark said that a paper would be expected “in the next few weeks”.
At the time, Clark said it would include “various policies and components” for consultation.
A government source stressed that the paper would also feature an open call for suggestions on how to boost the UK's industrial sector.
Read more: Don't fear: The PM's industrial strategy won't take Britain back to the '70s
The plans will be likely be met with huge interest, as the reintroduction of the industrial strategy terminology raised concerns of a 1970s-style plan of “picking winners”.
May has identified sectors, many relating to technology, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, medical technology and satellites as areas that could benefit from government support under her plan.