We are seeing venture capitalists, telecoms companies and individual entrepreneurs flocking to the UK, confirming our position as the single most popular destination for inward investment into Europe. The market is the driver of this revolution, but the Government has a crucial role to play. One of the most debilitating challenges facing the IT industry is the lack of skilled personnel. We need to make sure we fill that gap and allow the industry to keep growing. Labour is committed to increased funding for higher and further education, and building up the nation's skills base.
Government can also help to develop new markets.
Our constructive engagement in Europe is helping to open up a vast market of 370 million people. We are now well on the way to a new directive to remove legal barriers to ecommerce across the single market. The Government is also investing heavily in the new wave of computing technology. From the laser to Xerox, successful new technologies have often resulted from government funded blue skies research. The Labour Government has not only invested in skills, science and market reform, it has also provided the vital economic stability which is essential to research, development and investment.