John Healey wanted to know the best thing about the Manufacturing Technology Centre in the West Midlands, so he asked. The answer stuck with him: "We turn small ideas into brilliant businesses." It was the perfect place, he thought, to tell a fresh, optimistic story about Britain on his first day as the country's Chancellor.
The MTC is a fitting backdrop. The centre employs a thousand people, has received £35m in government investment, and brings in nearly £130m in turnover. It was conceived in 2009, opened in 2011, and now sits at the heart of advanced manufacturing — one of eight growth sectors in the government's industrial strategy.
Healey's message was about a country "turning a corner." He pointed to reasons for hope that are easy to miss in the daily news. Britain, he said, is home to nearly half of Europe's most innovative companies. It leads the world in life sciences, defence technology, creative industries and financial services. Its stock market is hitting all-time highs.
The new Chancellor also acknowledged how much work remains. Debt costs are at historic highs, which he called a "trust penalty." He explained that after years of high borrowing and low growth, national debt has climbed from 64% of GDP — the value of everything the country produces — to almost 100% today. When inflation hit 11%, it pushed up both the cost of living and the cost of doing business.
But there are signs the tide is turning. Healey listed them plainly: interest rates cut six times since the election; borrowing at its lowest level in six years; growth that is "still fragile, but the fastest in the G7" in the first half of this year; and productivity finally rising after decades of lagging behind peers.
Fiscal discipline, he stressed, is a matter of values, not just numbers on a spreadsheet. The arithmetic is stark: the government now spends £1 in every £10 on debt interest. If that spending were a department, it would be the second biggest in Whitehall, bigger than Defence, the Home Office and Justice combined.
Healey said he wants to carry forward the work begun by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to restore Britain's voice among allies, and by Rachel Reeves to rebuild fiscal discipline. At the G20 meeting in North Carolina, he told colleagues an "optimistic story" of resilience, pride and latent potential.
For Healey, credibility and growth are two sides of the same coin. "Fiscal credibility is indivisible from growth," he said — the foundation for every promise the government makes. The story he wants Britain to tell is one of a country ready to seize new technologies and new ideas, turning small ideas into brilliant businesses.