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Sir Keir Starmer will on Monday ask Britain’s competition watchdog to soften its approach as he vows to “rip out bureaucracy” in order to make the UK a more attractive investment destination.
The prime minister will tell executives gathered at its international investment summit that Labour’s landslide victory will “end chop and change” over policy and bring political stability that allows them to back new projects in the UK.
He will unveil commitments from the private sector to invest more than £50bn into the economy — across AI, life sciences and infrastructure — according to people briefed on the plans.
“We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment and we will make sure that every regulator in this country takes growth as seriously as this room does,” Starmer will tell the event at London’s Guildhall.
He will add: “We have a golden opportunity to use our mandate, to end chop and change, policy churn and sticking plasters that make it so hard for investors to assess the value of any proposition.”
The £50bn figure for investment pledges to be made on Monday includes £24bn of green investment unveiled last week, which included some projects that had already been announced. The sum also includes a £20bn investment from Australia’s Macquarie group that will include an electric car-charging network and offshore wind projects.
Officials and industry are concerned that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has stopped or slowed deals, denting Britain’s reputation overseas, and making the government appear “anti-tech”.
The boss of Activision accused Britain of being “closed for business” after Microsoft’s takeover of the gaming group was initially blocked, while an investigation into Amazon and artificial intelligence company Anthropic earlier this year that was ultimately dropped was viewed poorly internationally.
The previous Conservative government last year set the CMA a remit to “support investment, innovation and growth by promoting competitive markets”, but Downing Street said the plans were never put into action.
Starmer will set out more details on the new CMA priorities and direction in an industrial strategy green paper on Monday. Ministers will hold a private session with handpicked executives at the summit to discuss the contents, according to people briefed on the plans.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will also host a meeting of entrepreneurs at Number 11 Downing Street on Tuesday.
Several businesses whose CEOs are travelling to the UK for the summit had expressed disappointment that plans for a dedicated “industrial strategy” session in the agenda were downgraded.
The FT reported last week that a handful of CEOs were wavering in the past week about attendance, with organisers criticised for disorganisation.
The government was briefly thrown into disarray on Friday after a report that port operator DP World could delay a £1bn investment pledge after a senior minister lambasted its subsidiary P&O. Over the weekend, the company said the investment is still planned, and that the company’s chair Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem will attend the event. Both were previously reported by the FT.
Around 200 private sector executives — including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock chiefs David Solomon and Larry Fink — are expected to attend the summit. The event kicked off with a Sunday evening reception at Lancaster House and will include a day of meetings and panels at London’s Guildhall on Monday before an evening event at St Paul’s Cathedral. King Charles will also attend the evening event.
Starmer is determined to prevent overzealous regulators from stifling a pro-growth agenda that he says is essential to grow the UK’s economy.
The FT reported last month that the chancellor will issue a formal edict to the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, around the time of her October 30 Budget, saying it needs to prove that it is acting to promote the expansion of the UK financial services sector.
Officials say the FCA is a “constant source of frustration” to ministers, who rail over the complexity of the regulator’s 10,000-page rule book and some of its decisions.