Andy Burnham is right to put investing in Britain and British companies at the heart of his programme for government.

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Backing British businesses means creating jobs, higher wages and a more prosperous future. But it also means giving our companies the freedom to compete and scale internationally, while building the sovereign capabilities Britain will need for decades to come.

Sovereignty is not about protectionism or nationalism. It is about control and optionality. The most critical systems that underpin our country - the ones our economy, our public services and our national security depend on - are ones we should have full control over.

Confidence in our own capability is not new. Britain has never lacked the boldness to build society-transforming technology. We gave the world the steam engine, the jet engine, vaccines, the World Wide Web and the first programmable electronic digital computer at Bletchley Park.

Innovation has long been one of our greatest strengths. The problem is that too often we innovate and invent here, but build, scale and commercialise somewhere........

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