During my time as minister for health innovation and safety, one lesson became impossible to ignore: Britain continues to produce world leading science, but too rarely captures its full economic value.
I met clinicians transforming patient care through artificial intelligence, researchers developing life-changing medicines, entrepreneurs building world leading medical technologies, and investors eager to back British science. Again and again, I heard the same message.
They were not asking Britain to become better at discovery. They were asking Britain to become better at adoption. That conversation reinforced something I came to strongly believe in government. Britain’s challenge is no longer whether we can invent the future. It is whether we can build it here.
For generations, Britain has been one of the world’s great scientific nations. From penicillin and the discovery of the structure of DNA to IVF, genomic medicine and the development of one of the world’s first Covid vaccines, British science has repeatedly changed medicine and millions of lives. Our universities remain among the best in the world. The NHS, with its scale, data and research capability, is a unique national asset for innovation. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is one of the world’s most respected regulators.
Few countries begin with stronger foundations. Yet, despite these extraordinary strengths, too many British discoveries create jobs, investment, manufacturing and economic growth somewhere else.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made clear that this Government will be judged on delivery. I agree, it should. The measure of success is not the number of strategies we publish or announcements we make. It is whether patients receive better care, whether businesses choose to grow in Britain, whether investors choose Britain over our competitors and whether we create the skilled jobs that improve living standards.
Therefore, delivery must become Britain’s competitive advantage. Life sciences sits at the heart of that ambition. This is not simply another successful sector of our economy. It is one of the great opportunities of our generation. It combines scientific excellence, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, engineering, digital technology and healthcare. It improves lives while driving productivity, exports and economic growth.
The first priority must be protecting Britain’s global leadership in science. Long-term investment in research, universities and scientific infrastructure is not simply support for science; it is one of the smartest economic investments a country can make.
Scientific excellence depends upon stability, confidence and long-term partnership between government, academia and industry. The second priority is scaling British businesses. Too many companies make their breakthrough here before looking overseas to raise capital, expand manufacturing or establish headquarters. Britain carries much of the early risk while others enjoy much of the long-term reward.
We should review how research and development tax incentives support companies beyond the earliest stages of innovation, rewarding those that continue to grow, employ people and manufacture in Britain. We should unlock greater investment from British pension funds into high-growth British businesses and strengthen access to patient capital for companies with the potential to become global leaders.
We should also have the confidence to think differently about public investment. Where taxpayers have played a transformational role in supporting breakthrough discoveries, government should consider taking modest equity stakes in exceptional cases, creating a British Innovation Fund that reinvests returns into the next generation of scientific discovery. Public investment should create lasting public value.
Britain does not have an innovation problem. Britain has an adoption problem.
Too often, remarkable technologies secure regulatory approval before encountering years of fragmented procurement, inconsistent commissioning and local variation. Innovators spend years navigating systems that should be helping them succeed. Small businesses exhaust valuable capital waiting for decisions. Clinicians ready to embrace innovation find themselves constrained by bureaucracy rather than empowered by it. Most importantly, patients wait longer than they should for technologies that are already proven to improve care.
If Britain wants to become the world’s leading life sciences economy, the NHS must become the world’s fastest adopter of proven innovation. When evidence shows that an innovation improves outcomes, patient safety or productivity, the question should no longer be whether to adopt it, but how quickly it can be implemented across the NHS. We need nationally coordinated adoption pathways, transparent implementation timetables and clear accountability for delivery. Artificial intelligence, genomics, advanced diagnostics and medical technologies all have the potential to transform healthcare. But technology does not change lives because it exists. It changes lives because health systems have the confidence and discipline to adopt it consistently and at pace.
Every technology adopted more quickly strengthens Britain’s reputation as a place to innovate. It encourages investment, creates exports, attracts further research and gives companies the confidence to build their future here.
The economic opportunity extends far beyond laboratories. Life sciences is not simply a sector for scientists.
It requires engineers, software developers, laboratory technicians, advanced manufacturers, construction workers, electricians, logistics specialists, data scientists, clinical researchers, regulatory professionals, finance experts and thousands of small businesses throughout the supply chain.
At a time when almost one million young people are not in education, employment or training, that should matter to every Labour politician. Our Industrial strategy must also be an opportunity strategy. The Government should work with industry, universities, colleges and the NHS to identify the workforce our life sciences sector will need over the next decade, then build apprenticeship programmes, technical qualifications, graduate pathways and mid-career retraining around those future jobs.
Britain begins this decade with extraordinary advantages. World-class science. A globally respected regulator. The NHS. Outstanding universities. Ambitious entrepreneurs. No shortage of ideas.
Our challenge is no longer whether we can invent the future. It is whether we have the confidence to build it here.
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