Lib Dem economic plan to put UK at heart of Europe and entice start-ups to stay

The Lib Dems’ plan for growth would put the UK at the heart of Europe, deputy leader Daisy Cooper is set to say, as she warns that a “computer says no” economy is holding the country back.

The St Albans MP will set out how the party would strike a growth and defence partnership with Europe and seek to entice start-ups to stay in the UK as part of its proposal for the economy on the second day of the party’s conference on Sunday.

Daisy Cooper will set out how the party would strike a growth and defence partnership with Europe (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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Lib Dem treasury spokesperson Ms Cooper will say the partnership with the EU will start to reverse the economic damage of Brexit.

“In power, we will strike the deal on the single market. We will strike the deal on a customs union. We will strike the deal on defence. A new deal that makes our country safer, stronger and more prosperous.

“And we will say what no other party dares to say: Britain belongs at the heart of Europe, and we will take her there,” she is set to say.

She will go on to say that too many start-ups are built in the UK and then leave to scale up somewhere else, and that the Lib Dems’ plan would motivate them to stay by getting rid of barriers to investment, innovation and skills.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper warned that a ‘computer says no’ economy is holding Britain back (Ben Whitley/PA)

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“We build brilliant start-ups, and watch too many leave to scale somewhere else. We produce world-class research, and too little of it becomes a British product. We attract foreign investment, but can’t raise enough of our own capital to match it.

“We pour money into infrastructure and don’t get the returns. Communities generate growth, and watch the rewards captured by Whitehall.

“Britain has the potential. The system holds it back. The computer says no.”

She will also take aim at Reform UK and the Conservatives, saying the parties are “without a single credible costing between them”.