With chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng hitting the headlines with his not-so-mini mini-budget, we look back at an article he wrote for one of our publications just over eighteen months ago. What clues, if any, can we unearth about the sort of chancellor he is likely to be?
At the time the article went to print, Kwarteng had recently been appointed secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy and he was keen to set out the government’s direction of travel given that the Covid-19 vaccination programme was now in full swing. He paid tribute to British businesses, scientists and all those who had helped to make the vaccination programme possible before declaring ‘we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.’
This is very much in-keeping with his rhetoric in the house of commons last week, where the emphasis was all about growth. In fact, according to the government’s official website, the mini-budget speech was entitled ‘Growth Plan 2022’ and the word ‘growth’ was used twenty-five times.
One striking note of difference, however, between the article Kwarteng wrote for us and the speech he delivered in the commons was the emphasis on the environment.
In the former, he declared that the government would ‘work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery’, describing this as ‘a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.’
He wrote about the government’s ten-point plan for a ‘green industrial revolution’, ‘supporting 250,000 green jobs’ and accelerating ‘our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.’
The article was written only a few months before Britain hosted Cop26 at a time when the climate was regularly cited by cabinet ministers a key concern of the Johnson government. In the mini-budget last Friday, however, Kwarteng did not so much as utter the words ‘carbon’, ‘net zero’ or even ‘environment’. He was looking for shoots of growth but he didn’t seem too fussed whether or not they were green. The word ‘green’, incidentally, was not mentioned either.
Environmental emphasis aside, the rest of Kwarteng’s ‘Growth Plan’ was very much in keeping with the article he wrote for us. In both, he spoke of the need to level up, to support business and to unlock the nation’s potential. In the more recent speech, with the new power bequeathed by his great office of state, he was able to be more specific about how these objectives would be achieved: ‘If we really want to level up, Mr Speaker – we have to unleash the power of the private sector.’
Overall, it marks a subtle but important change of tone. The Kwarteng of early 2021 had a number of concerns he was keen to raise. But today the chancellor, who stands at a whopping six foot five inches, has only one thing on his mind: growth.
You can read Kwasi Kwarteng's full article from January 2021 below…
As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 marks the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.
In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.
We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers.
The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Through the prime minister’s ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.
With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4 per cent of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.
And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.
As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.
