Vince Cable talks Brexit, innovation and skills at C2I conference

The former Business Secretary is a champion of engineering, skills and innovation. He has also been one of the most prominent opponents of Brexit, and in particular the economic implications of a hard Brexit. During the course of his keynote address, Sir Vince was critical of Britain’s lack of long-term thinking in relation to investment, education and apprenticeships, but also praised aspects of UK innovation that have blossomed in recent years.

Having only won back his parliamentary seat in the June 2017 general election, Sir Vince spoke about how he spent his two years of political exile learning more about German manufacturing, including a stint on the board of a Bavrian Mittelstand automotive supplier.

“It was extraordinarily enlightening to see the way that a fairly bog-standard German car company goes about its business,” he told the C2I conference. “This obsession with productivity, almost on a daily basis. How do we improve every little aspect of production.”