Positive Money
Timing
Monday 28th September: 17:00 - 18:00
Chair
Sara Hall, Co-Executive Director, Positive Money
Speakers
Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London
Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress
Clive Lewis, MP, Norwich South
Topic
Investment in every postcode: The opportunity for public financial institutions
The UK’s financial system is skewed towards London, and systematically underinvests in the real economy - particularly in small and medium-sized businesses. Meanwhile, it fails to invest sufficiently in the climate solutions needed to meet the UK’s ambitious Clean Energy mission and climate goals. Public financial institutions like the National Wealth Fund can play a pivotal role in addressing these interlinked problems - not only by scaling up public investment, but by reshaping the financial system itself to better serve societal needs. However, the potential of public banks remain untapped, with the National Wealth Fund sitting at just a fraction of the size of European public banks. This panel asks: How can public finance drive investment and re-wire Britain’s economy to work the for climate, workers and communities?
About Positive Money
Positive Money is a research and campaigning organisation that collaborates with policymakers, the public and economists around the world to redesign our economic system for social justice and a liveable planet.
Speaker bios
Sara Hall, Co-Executive Director, Positive Money
Sara Hall is Co-Executive Director of Positive Money, a not-for-profit civil society organisation working towards reform of the money and banking system to support a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Previously Sara worked as Deputy Director and most recently interim Executive Director at Tax Justice UK and prior to that held senior roles at the Europe Regional Office of Amnesty International as well as at Stonewall, Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ organisation.
Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London
Mariana Mazzucato (PhD, CBE, FREcon) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose. She is winner of international prizes including the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2021, Italy's highest civilian honour, the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She is a member of the UK Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and the Italian Academy of Sciences Lincei. In 2025, she was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to economics in the King’s Birthday Honours List. In April, 2026, she was appointed as the first Economist-in-Residence at Whitechapel Gallery. Pope Francis appointed her to the Pontifical Academy for Life for bringing ‘more humanity’ to the world.
Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress
Kate Bell is Assistant General Secretary and supports Paul Nowak in leading the TUC. Kate works with external stakeholders on behalf of the TUC and is responsible for inter-union relations. She also leads on internal TUC matters. She represents the TUC on the government’s Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, and was formerly a member of the Low Pay Commission. Kate joined the TUC in 2016 as the organisation’s head of economics, international and employment rights department, where she worked on the furlough scheme, the TUC’s campaign for a £15 minimum wage, and stronger worker bargaining rights. Before joining the TUC, Kate worked as Head of Policy and Public Affairs for a local authority, for the Labour Party, and for the charities Child Poverty Action Group and Gingerbread.
Clive Lewis, MP, Norwich South
Clive Lewis is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South since May 2015. Before entering politics, he spent over a decade as a BBC TV political journalist and served as an infantry officer in the Army Reserve, completing a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009. Within Parliament, Clive has held several high-profile shadow frontbench roles—including Shadow Defence Secretary and Shadow Business Secretary—and launched a bid for the Labour leadership in 2020. A prominent voice on the left of his party, he is widely recognized for his advocacy on progressive issues, championing constitutional reform, wealth redistribution, and a UK Green New Deal.