Let’s be honest - our economy is stuck in a rut.

For years, successive Conservative and Labour governments have opted for short-term gimmicks and unfair tax hikes, leaving us with low economic growth. Now Lib Dem proposals to stem the decline have been unveiled. 
The Treasury does too much - setting out economic policy, tax rules, and departmental spending. It’s over-centralised and isolated from the real economy. We should split the Treasury into a new Department for Growth, focussing on growth strategy, tax policies and strategic national infrastructure, and a Department for Public Expenditure, overseeing departmental budgets and ensuring value-for-money.

The Department for Business and Trade should be merged into the new Growth department, to ensure that business and investment is properly aligned with national priorities. And it should be based outside the capital to help re-balance our economy away from centuries of London-centric thinking.

A new Department for Growth, to boost long-term prosperity, is a radical proposal. But in the pursuit of economic growth, we can’t just tinker around the edges anymore.