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By William James
LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will onTuesday outline her bid to reshape the British economy for apost-Brexit world, reviving the once unfashionable concept ofindustrial policy 30 years after Margaret Thatcher killed itoff.
May will chair the first meeting of the "Cabinet Committeeon Economy and Industrial Strategy" in her Downing StreetOffices, bringing together the heads of 11 other ministries toset out her vision for a state-boosted industrial renaissance.
"If we are to take advantages of the opportunities presentedby Brexit, we need to have our whole economy firing," May saidahead of the meeting in a statement released by her office.
"We also need a plan to drive growth up and down the country- from rural areas to our great cities."
After a referendum campaign that revealed dissatisfaction inmany of Britain's struggling post-industrial regions, May ispitching a plan to reunite the country by raising the prospectsof those who she casts as "hard-working people".
The June 23 vote to leave the European Union has raisedserious questions about the future of the world's fifth largesteconomy, with some surveys indicating a recession, a hit toconsumer confidence and a possible fall in investment.
"We need a proper industrial strategy that focuses onimproving productivity, rewarding hard-working people withhigher wages and creating more opportunities for young people sothat, whatever their background, they go as far as their talentswill take them," May said ahead of the meeting.
The challenge is to find a formula that arrests adecades-long decline in Britain's manufacturing sector byhelping firms tackle the challenges posed by globalisationwithout blunting the market forces that make them competitive.
She will make a priority of developing the industriesalready based in Britain - a push that could help carmakers likeJaguar Land Rover, GM-owned Vauxhall and Nissan, and aerospace industry leaders like BAE Systems to weather the Brexit storm.
The strategy will also involve finding new ways to rebalancethe economy away from its reliance on the services sector, andensure wealth is distributed away from the prosperous south eastof England.
Whilst policy detail is scarce, the strategy is likely tocombine state-backed investment in traditional infrastructurelike roads and rail with funding for modern essentials likebroadband and lower energy costs, along with a push to trainmore of the highly-skilled workers industry says it needs.
NOT PICKING WINNERS
Industrial policy has a toxic legacy in Britain.
It was once used to help failing national champions througha series of flawed policies in the 1960s and 1970s that soughtto arrest a decline in manufacturing influence.
"We're not getting into the business of picking winners:it's more about creating the right environment," a governmentsource who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
May's office said the strategy would promote a range ofindustrial sectors with a focus on addressing long termproductivity growth; encouraging innovation and focusing on theindustries and technologies that give Britain a competitiveadvantage.
May surprised French utility EDF and China lastweek with a last-minute decision to review the building ofBritain's first nuclear plant in decades.
The refocusing of Britain's economic policy, for the lastsix years aimed at balancing the books and heavily reliant onforeign money to replace state infrastructure spending, alsocarries a potentially huge political prize.
With the opposition Labour Party, long seen as the championsof the working classes, locked in a vicious internal ideologicalstruggle and losing sway in their traditional heartlands, Mayhas an opportunity to won over those who saw voting 'Leave' inthe EU referendum a 'nothing to lose' protest vote.
"The Brexit vote and euroscepticism was strongest in formermanufacturing areas, where the industry has gone, the good jobshave gone and people feel disaffected," said David BaileyProfessor of Industry at Aston Business School.
"If May's going to do something about reconnecting,manufacturing has got to be part of the story." (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)