At TBI’s Future of Britain conference on Tuesday 9 July, Tony Blair will say why he is optimistic for the future of the country.
He will set out how a package of measures including private and public sector adoption of AI, preventative healthcare, digital ID, and embracing technology in education could boost growth and generate savings.
Reforms to the public sector could create £12bn of extra fiscal space a year by the end of this parliamentary term and £40bn a year within a decade. And rapid adoption of AI in the private sector could boost tax revenue and double these gains.
Speaking at TBI’s Future of Britain conference on Governing in the Age of AI, Tony Blair will set out how we can break the UK out of its current crisis and create a new era of opportunity.
He will detail a package of proposals that could create £12bn of fiscal space a year by the end of this term and £40bn a year by the end of the next.
Tony Blair will say:
“Britain is facing an unenviable triple whammy of high taxes, heavy debt and poor outcomes. And worse is to come with the demographics of an aging population against us, deep structural health problems and rising numbers of long-term sick.
“The simple and unavoidable truth is that unless we improve growth and productivity, and drive value and efficiency through our public spending, we're going to become poorer. Much poorer.
“This explains the mood of pessimism evident in much of the election campaign.
“But I do not share the pessimism. On the contrary I don't think there has ever been a better time to govern. A better time to effect change. A better basis for optimism and a surer reason for hope.
“But only if we understand how the world is changing and how we use that change to change our country.
“Stable Government and some clear early wins can definitely help.
“But there is only one game-changer. Harnessing effectively the 21st Century Technological Revolution.
“There is absolutely no doubt that this is an era of transformation. Things which were impossible will become possible; advances which would have taken decades, will happen in a few years or even months; the value we can add, the improvements in efficiency we can make, the radical benefits in outcomes we can secure, could be truly revolutionary.
“This is the answer to the perennial progressive dilemma whereby the sensible people appear not to be radical, and the radical people appear not to be sensible; and the answer to the unproductive, binary choice between state and market.”
He will also highlight the work that TBI’s policy experts have conducted to reimagine the state for the 21st century. This includes:
How embracing AI in the public sector can save a fifth of workforce time and create £10bn in savings by the end of this term and £35bn by the end of the next.
How preventative healthcare can deliver a triple benefit of a healthier population, a healthier economy with more people in work, and healthier public finances. Even a narrow version of a preventative healthcare programme focused just on cardiovascular disease could lead to 70,000 more people in work and result in annual savings to the exchequer of £0.6 billion by the end of this term and £1.2 billion by the end of the next. But such is the pace of medical advances that the potential from preventative healthcare is far larger in the future.
That the introduction of a Digital ID would improve citizen access to public services, cut bureaucracy and save people time. It would also produce almost £4 billion of net savings over the course of this parliament and nearly £10 billion during the next term by helping to cut benefit fraud and improve tax collection.
How investing in AI-enabled education can raise educational attainment and boost GDP by 6 per cent in the long term.
The fully costed proposals are published today as part of a raft of ideas to be discussed at the Future of Britain conference.
‘The Economic Case for Reimagining the State’ by TBI Director of Economic Policy Tom Smith sets out the detail with supporting documents for each policy area.
‘Prosperity Through Health: The Macroeconomic Case for Investing in Preventative Health Care in the UK’ by lead authors Professor Andrew Scott and TBI Global Health Consortium Director Ines Hassan describes how TBI’s ideas on preventative healthcare can boost employment and GDP.
‘Governing in the Age of AI: Reimagining the UK Department for Work and Pensions’ by Alexander Iosad, Oliver Large and Laura Britton, walks through how AI could work in practice in a government department.
Further information on the Future of Britain conference
Today’s Future of Britain conference in central London will feature a diverse group of experts and leaders from across the UK and TBI’s global network. Speakers will map out the specific tools and answers required to address the pivotal question of our time: how to govern in the age of AI. The programme will touch on key sectors of the UK economy, climate, health, Britain’s place in the world and more.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, will share his vision for transforming healthcare in Britain and how the new government will deliver it.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO, Google DeepMind will discuss how governments can grip the opportunities of AI in conversation with Tony Blair. Matt Clifford Co-Founder, Entrepreneur First will discuss what Britain can do to be a leader in AI.
Multi-platinum selling music artist and tech entrepreneur will.i.am will discuss how AI is reshaping the creative industries.
Lord William Hague, former leader of the Conservative Party will discuss how the role of technology, particularly the benefits of AI, needs to become the preoccupation of the new government.
John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of the world-leading health research foundation Wellcome Trust will take part in a panel discussion on the Future of Health in Britain with Professor Andrew Scott and Tony Blair.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Former Indian Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, will speak from his experience in India about how Digital ID is the backbone to harness new technologies.
Lindsey Chiswick, Director of Intelligence, Metropolitan Police will talk about the global dimension of cybercrime and how technology is being used to change and accelerate criminal enterprises.
Former Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin and French MEP and Secretary General of the European Democratic Party Sandro Gozi will discuss the future of European politics.
General Sir Nick Carter, former UK chief of the defence staff, and General Stanley McChrystal, CEO of the McChrystal Group and former leader of US Joint Special Operations Command, will speak about the future of defence and security in an era defined by shifting alliances and disruptive technologies.
Professor Chris Miller, author and expert in international politics, economics and technology will outline how India, China and the US are jockeying for supremacy in the new tech/AI revolution .
Greg Jackson, Founder of Octopus Energy Group and IIan Gur, Founding CEO of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency will discuss how the UK can take a leadership role in the Net Zero challenge, using investment and technological innovation to support clean development
Co-Founder and CEO of Unitary Sasha Haco and Founder of Girls Into Coding Avye Couloute will draw from their experiences as successful tech entrepreneurs to explore how technology and particularly artificial intelligence can help solve the big issues of today at speed and at scale.