The UK economy has many strengths, with innovative, world-beating industries including financial and professional services, and a proud history of scientific innovation. It equally has weaknesses, exacerbated by the 2007-08 financial crisis and the challenge of leaving the EU.

Various inquiries have lamented its flaws over the years, with many concluding that it should learn from other European economies, including Germany and Scandinavian countries. The latest is this week’s report of the commission on social justice set up by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a respected centre-left think-tank.

This effort has two notable aspects. First, the members were drawn from a wide range of backgrounds: they included Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing at Legal & General Investment Management; Dominic Barton, former managing partner of McKinsey & Co, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress. They were not a partisan crew.