Labour's industrial strategy is welcome but will need watchdog with bite to deliver hard truths

In 2017, Theresa May's government said it was setting out "a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK". None of those aspirations would be out of place in Keir Starmer's vision for "a 10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in the high-growth sectors that will drive our growth mission".

- Nils Pratley

Will this time be any different? There are a couple of features that could be genuine departures, or lessons learned from the past. First, professional and financial services are in the tent of eight "growth-driving" sectors (the others are more familiar: technology, creative industries, advanced manufacturing, defence, life sciences and clean energy). Financiers, lawyers and accountants may sound unlikely points of focus for an "industrial" strategy, but their inclusion is a recognition of where the strengths of the UK economy lie. As the Resolution Foundation points out, the UK was the biggest exporter of services in the world after the US. Doubling down looks a better idea than making airy thematic promises about innovation and suchlike, which was Boris Johnson's style.