Good evening. Very delighted to be here. Thank you for that introduction, Karen.

It’s a pleasure to be here at the FDF Investment Summit. And the food and drink sector is at the heart of Britain’s economy, and partnership between government and industry has never been more important.

And I just want to start by saying I’ve been in your shoes. Before returning to Parliament last year, I call it my parliamentary sabbatical, that’s a nice way of putting it, I was kicked out of one parliamentary seat – I spent time working for a trade association representing businesses.

And this experience taught me that when government and business work in partnership, we achieve much more than we would do if we work separately. And that partnership approach is exactly what I want to bring to this role.

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