For 15 years, the UK’s economy has stagnated. If you’re chronically online, you’ll be familiar with the graph showing GDP per capita flatlining from 2008 when the UK was almost as wealthy as the USA. Today, we’re about 40% poorer.

At a time when the demands on government spending are increasing - driven in large part by the requirements of an ageing population - this is a key challenge for the government. Economic growth is how we make sure we have the money to spend on hospitals, schools, welfare payments and all the other nice things that are supposed to come with living in a developed society.