Chi Onwurah, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation, commenting on an EEF report on the fourth industrial revolution, said:

“We welcome the EEF’s report which demonstrates that British manufacturing is embracing the fourth industrial revolution. But yet again the Government is shown to be lagging behind our businesses and the real world.

“Theresa May and Philip Hammond are happy to talk about industrial strategy but we’ve yet to see any actual strategy from them. British business is beginning to wonder if they really get it.

“The jobs of the future depend on Government enabling British manufacturing to lead the world in delivering the high-skills, high-wage, high-productivity economy that 4IR could help bring about, but the Tories appear stuck in a low-skill, low-wage, low-productivity race to the bottom.”