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Sir Tony Blair is expected to say the modern technological revolution means “there has never been a better time to govern”.
Speaking at the Tony Blair Institute’s Future of Britain conference in London on Tuesday, Blair will outline how a series of measures, including the private and public sector use of artificial intelligence, preventive healthcare, the introduction of digital identity and the use of technology in education, can boost growth and generate savings.
The former chancellor will say the UK faces an “unpleasant triple whammy” of high tax, debt and a poor fiscal position, which will “get worse from now on” because of an ageing population, “serious structural health problems” and rising numbers of long-term illnesses.
He will warn that unless the country improves growth and productivity and increases value and efficiency through public spending, it will “get even poorer”.
But, Sir Tony adds, “On the contrary, I think there has never been a better time to govern.”
“Now is a good time to make a change.”
“A better basis for optimism and surer reasons for hope.”
“But that’s only if we understand how the world is changing and how to use those changes to transform our country.
“A stable government and some clear early wins would certainly help.
“But there is one thing that is a game changer.
“Effectively harnessing the technological revolution of the 21st century.”
“There is no doubt that this is a time of change.
“The impossible will become possible and advances that would have taken decades will be realized in years or even months. The value we can add, the efficiencies we can achieve and the dramatic resulting gains we can secure can be truly revolutionary.”
“It is an answer to progressivism’s eternal dilemma: that smart people don’t seem radical and that radical people don’t seem smart; it is an answer to the counterproductive binary choice between the state and the market.”
TBI policy experts believe his reforms could create £12 billion a year in fiscal space by the end of this Parliament, and £40 billion a year within 10 years.
They say the “rapid adoption” of AI in the private sector could increase tax revenues and multiply benefits.
