Cable calls for ‘compelling vision’ to drive UK economy

UK business secretary Vince Cable has called for urgent corrective measures in framing government's economic policies, which lacked cohesion.

In a letter to prime Minster David Cameron, Cable has cited frustrations of top industrialists, including Ratan Tata, over UK's muddled economic policies and sought corrective measures going beyond public finances cuts.

In his official letter, termed 'extraordinary', addressed to Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, Cable pointed to the main shortcomings in the coalition government's industrial and economic policies.

"One of the messages I hear from business - this last week in a long conversation with Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry - is that we have swung too far in the opposite direction," he wrote in a letter dated 8 February that was leaked to the BBC.

Cable cites several instances of the coalition being united around an economic strategy, and says, "I sense, however, that there is still something important missing: a compelling vision of where the country is heading beyond sorting out the fiscal mess; and a clear and confident message about how we will earn our living in future."

Mentioning Ratan Tata and EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz in his five-page letter, Cable calls for strategic and long-term thinking about supply chains and the role they played in public procurement decisions.