Social enterprise at the heart of Labour policy, says shadow minister

The Labour Party will put social enterprise at the heart of its economic policymaking, according to the shadow business secretary.

Speaking at the Social Enterprise UK and Labour Business Future of Business Summit. Rebecca Long-Bailey told delegates that ‘we are putting social enterprise at the heart of our economic policy making.’

The shadow business secretary added ‘social enterprise is integral to our industrial strategy’.

In a wide-ranging speech, Ms Long-Bailey talked about the need for a new economy based on treating workers better and being more environmentally sustainable.

She said that a Labour Government would tackle the UK’s record as being the most regionally unequal society on record.

Ms Long-Bailey also said that a Labour Government would do more to promote ‘positive procurement’, rewarding businesses which treated their staff fairly and paid their taxes.

She also said that more needed to be done to ‘democratise’ the UK’s energy sector, with social enterprise providing a model for how this could be achieved.

Also speaking at the event was small business minister Bill Esterson, who said that more needed to be done to promote ‘long-termism’ in the business sector and that Labour would explore how its proposed National Investment Bank could support social enterprises and co-operatives to grow.

Speaking after the event, Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK said: ‘I am pleased that the Labour Party is grasping the transformative potential of social enterprise as the future of business.

‘If we want to see a better society, we need to see better businesses. Social enterprises are developing business models which combine superior economic performance with social fairness.

‘The next challenge is to turn this radical vision of a new economy into concrete proposals for reform of company law, procurement and the tax system.’

You can read New Start’s 2017 interview with Mr Holbrook here.