The recent Speke U-Turn on AstraZeneca’s £450m investment looks terrible for the UK government, according to Nils Pratley’s column. While he makes a valid point, Lord David Owen, who acted as Minister of Health under Barbara Castle’s Secretary of State between 1974-1976, presents a new perspective. During that period, Lord Owen was responsible for sponsoring the pharmaceutical industry which he took incredibly seriously. He even travelled to Brazil and Russia to promote the industry and had a former pharmaceutical company’s chief executive as an adviser.
Lord Owen believes that losing AstraZeneca’s £450m investment in Liverpool would never have happened under the previous ministerial structure that was closely aligned with the industry. The lack of coherence in the current ministerial decision-making structure can only be to blame.
It is important to note that Lord Owen’s perspective comes from a completely different time in history. He is in no way diminishing the significance of AstraZeneca’s investment or the need for the UK government to continue to prioritise economic growth. He is only highlighting how much more effective the structure could be. Every system can be improved, and the government’s focus should be on creating an improved decision-making structure that works effectively for everyone involved.
Lord Owen’s experience and insights provide an alternate viewpoint and a chance to revisit what worked well in the past. There is no doubt the government has a lot to learn from its history and it should be looking to learn. It will be interesting to see how the current Pro-Growth Government will respond to the feedback it is receiving and what changes, if any, it will choose to make
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