Rishi Sunak calls for businesses to invest in training, innovation

The chancellor Rishi Sunak called for businesses to invest in training and innovation to help alleviate the cost of living squeeze, according to a speech to the country's top business chiefs last night.

Sunak told the Confederation of British Industry that while government investment had risen to its highest level since the 1970s, a lack of private sector investment was dragging on productivity.

He said that the pledge to increase public investment in research and development by 50 percent to 22 billion dollars is a pledge by the government in this Parliament.

As a percentage of GDP, businesses investment in R&D is less than half of the OECD average. Further government action can only take us so far. He said that we need to invest more, train more, and innovate more.

Sunak said he was committed to reform R&D tax cuts to help boost investment in areas like education and training for employees. He said the path to higher productivity, higher living standards and a more prosperous and secure future was the path to higher productivity and higher living standards, with calls for an emergency budget to help alleviate the pain of a cost of living crunch on households.

Tony Danker, director general of the CBI, told Radio 4 s Today programme this morning that Sunak needed to act now to address the rising cost of living and boost investment.

He said that helping people with heating and eating bills will not fuel inflation.

You have to stimulate business investment now that is not going to overheat the economy.