Since the start of the year, the flow of stories highlighting Britain’s fading industrial prowess seems to have reached warp speed. The number of new cars made in the UK has sunk to its lowest level since 1956. Britishvolt, the country’s answer to Tesla, collapsed into administration. The struggling steel sector was the subject of a potential government bailout. Meanwhile, as the clean tech race between the US, the EU and China hots up, the lack of UK response remains conspicuous.The routine approach from British politicians to sectors in need of attention has been to lament current performance, promise funding and state the desire to become a “world leader”. From the 2017 industrial strategy of Theresa May’s premiership and Boris Johnson’s 2021 “plan for growth”, to current chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s long-term economic vision, numerous industries have been the subject of the Conservatives’ proclaimed world-beating goals: cryptocurrency, green energy and the future of transport to name a few.

As a result, British industrial policy has come to resemble a confused mix of pledges to rebuild UK manufacturing and take a lead role in the full array of industries of the future. Ambition is important: countries need a broad industrial base as well as depth. But such a haphazard approach risks leaving the UK without any real economic identity.

For one thing, a medium-sized economy such as the UK does not have the economic heft to compete on all fronts. The US, China and EU workforces, consumer markets, capital and global trade all dwarf Britain’s. Even if the country could find more public money to splurge on multiple sectors, it may be largely wasteful; businesses consider several factors beyond subsidies in deciding where to locate. And stretched finances mean a greater need for targeted support.