Today’s geopolitical upheavals – a cost of living crisis and war on our doorstep in Europe – mean the UK is faced by a prolonged period of heightened economic and political uncertainty.
Even before the latest developments, communities and businesses across the country were painfully adjusting to life after Brexit and life with COVID. Meanwhile, the challenges of inequality and climate change are growing more daunting by the day. The future is hard to predict, and planning is hard to do with real confidence – whether in sitting rooms or boardrooms.
Our response to these challenges should be to come together around a common cause, starting in our own ‘backyard’ – that is, the UK’s domestic economy, with its building blocks of home markets and industrial clusters and urban and regional systems. National assets need a great overhaul and a new appreciation of their economic and social value. As one nation, we have to build a future-proof Good Domestic Economy (GDE).