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SIR KEIR STARMER sparked fears that he is putting Britain “up for sale” by vowing today to “rip up” bureaucracy in a bid to attract global investment.
The Prime Minister said it was “time to upgrade the regulatory regime” as he rolled out the red carpet for chief executives at a summit in the City of London.
Deals worth tens of billions of pounds were expected to be confirmed at the Guildhall, with guests also invited to an exclusive reception at St Paul’s Cathedral, attended by the King and featuring a performance by Sir Elton John.
The Prime Minister told those present: “It’s time to upgrade the regulatory regime, make it fit for the modern age, harness every opportunity available to Britain.
“We will rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment. We will march through the institutions and make sure that every regulator in this country, especially our economic and competition regulators, take growth as seriously as this room does.”
He also assured businesses that they could share any “frustrations” with the government, adding: “We’re united behind growth — our door is open.”
Earlier, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said that “ripping out” bureaucracy to speed up innovation would not lead to “cutting corners.”
Some have suggested that in order to make Britain a more attractive place to invest post-Brexit, the government will need to regulate less than the EU.
A spokeswoman for Momentum said: “Starmer says the UK is ‘open for business.’ but it sounds a lot like he wants to put the country ‘up for sale.’
“Inward investment can be valuable if it creates high-skilled, secure jobs and strengthens productivity in key areas, but all the indicators so far suggests much of this so-called investment will be investment funds buying up key infrastructure and using it to extract wealth.”
Hazards Campaign chairwoman Janet Newsham warned that “red tape is better than bloody bandages,” after profiteering companies’ failure to self-regulate led to the Grenfell disaster.
She said: “We would be wholly against private investment in regulation because regulation must be independent of state and industrial influence.
“Grenfell is a good example of where self-regulation was adopted, being taken from the independent fire regulators, and the consequences were that no-one regulated, no-one checked that safety was being taken seriously and dozens died because there was no-one taking a precautionary approach to the risks and no-one as yet has been prosecuted either.”
