Labour's Life Science Sector Plan: Is pragmatism overshadowing ambition?

On Tuesday’s broadcast round, Shadow Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle MP, swerved questions about funding for the pharma industry twice. First, on Radio 4, he avoided a question on a potential ‘compromise’ on voluntary scheme repayments. Later, on GB News, Kyle dodged a trap designed to reveal a spending pledge associated with the life sciences sector plan. He outlined there was no such pledge and added that industry “have not asked” for further funding. This is a generous reading of the situation following 12 months of voluntary scheme negotiations where industry was calling for precisely more money to be spent on their medicines. Direct funding perhaps not, but funding all the same.????

It’s hard to argue with the pragmatism of this ‘play it safe’ position. Kyle’s only mirroring what every other shadow minister is doing, and it speaks to the financial discipline being applied to policymaking at the moment. Clearly the approach is calculated. Yet, just as polling and focus groups keep reminding us that voters believe there is little to get really excited about in Labour’s wider agenda – see Patrick Maguire’s Times piece last week – could the same be said for yesterday’s sector plan that Kyle was promoting in the broadcast studios???

Generally speaking, life sciences sector plans are not designed to enthral the wider electorate, Corbyn’s Medicines for the Many in 2019 perhaps being an exception to this rule. This is true of Government and Opposition parties. Yet they are important and hold a unique position in the sector. Individual lines and commitments will get pored over, held up as progress and used time and again to hold policymakers to account. Read as a sum of their parts, and also for what’s not in them, these plans also provide a useful indication of how the government, the NHS, or other bodies regard the sector at a particular time. Certainly, for major investors sitting in HQs in the US, Japan and Europe and keeping tabs on what many believe will be the next Government in a key international market, you’d expect this plan to get noticed.??

Job done in some respects, but what’s the impact? The plan may be designed to reassure industry that the party has moved on from Corbyn, McDonnell and Medicines for the Many, but it is not likely many really thought Labour were anywhere near those positions these days; the charm offensive for business has been long in the making. Ultimately, Labour’s plan feels a little bit like a missed opportunity. Yes, there were plenty of supportive quotes from pharma, think tanks and research organisations in the accompanying press release, and should all the commitments be swiftly implemented, the sector would be better off than it is today.??

However, behind the numerous ‘welcomings’ of ‘ambition,’ being critical, the reviews were not as effusive as they perhaps could have been. The reason for this? Probably because there wasn’t a great deal to distinguish this plan from current government and NHS policy, or previously announced Labour proposals. Of course, had this plan been written 12 or 18 months ago, the reading of this might be different. But we’re not in this position. Government ministers have also been keen to point out where Labour have supposedly been copying government policy in other areas. They may feel vindicated here.????

Naturally, exciting proposals will need an accompanying funding pledge, or an awkward form of words to get around this, which Labour won’t be keen on. Yet it feels like the plan could still have been livened up, see for example the previously announced adoption strategy being aligned with the Life Sciences Vision (LSV). Practical, yes, especially given LSV implementation has been hit and miss, but perhaps not groundbreaking. And what about manufacturing too? A key focus of Kyle’s broadcast round, but absent from the plan.??

Overall, Labour will chalk up yesterday’s announcements as a win, and industry has a concrete set of proposals, united in one place, to focus on in the early days of a Labour administration, should the party form the next Government. But there will also be time for work around the edges. Attention now turns to Labour’s business conference tomorrow, where lots of industry, as well as DGA, will also be in attendance.??

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