PM Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves & Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have written to regulators, including Ofwat, Ofgem & the Environment Agency, asking for ideas on how to boost economic growth.
The move has been greeted with a mixture of groans and raspberries. They could have asked business leaders, tech entrepreneurs or angel investors for ideas, but no: apparently big Government and its regulators are where the answers to anaemic growth and productivity will be found instead. It sums up rising post-budget fears that Labour doesn’t ‘get’ wealth creation, and are still wedded to the idea that bigger Government is the answer.
If only they’d asked us first. The Centre’s Unfinished Revolution covers everything from cutting red tape to smart data and, yes, reforming regulators too. Let’s see how many of the Regulators’ replies to the Government’s letter start with ‘Ahem I’m afraid, Prime Minister, that we are a big part of the problem‘. But here at the Centre, we won’t be holding our breath……
You can read the BBC article here.
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