Mandelson: 'Move away from finance'
Updated on 17 January 2009
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the country was likely to see the economy diversify away from a dependence on financial services.
He said problems in the financial sector were going to take more time and ingenuity to resolve.
And he said British business needed to look at where it could find a competitive advantage in the future.
Speaking at the Fabian Society's new year conference, Lord Mandelson said in the future there would be "less financial engineering and more real engineering in our economy".
"We will see our economy diversify away from an over dependency on financial services," he said. "We've got to identify in this country what specialist businesses we are going to invest in, where are we going to make our contribution to the global economy.
"We are going to have to find new competitive advantages in Europe. That's going to require both innovation and activism on the part of Government. There's a more activist role for a smarter, more strategic state in our economy than perhaps we've recognised today."
Speaking at a debate on fairness in the recession, Lord Mandelson said he was often quoted out of context saying "we are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich".
"It's always been completely off the mark to suggest that I have no interest whatsoever in fairness," he said.
"I think fairness is fundamental. I've always argued that one of the core roles of progressive government is ensuring that people's opportunities in life are not limited by the conditions that they have been born into.
"Fairness doesn't happen on its own. That's why you have a progressive party, that's why you have a Labour government intervening in the way we do. Equality of opportunity has to be created because it's the foundation of a fair society and a more equal society."
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