Rachel Reeves put Britain’s military of greater than 100 regulators on discover saying they have been getting in the way in which of progress
Rachel Reeves today put Britain’s army of more than 100 regulators on notice saying they were getting in the way of growth.
It came as she took a swipe at the ousted head of the competition watchdog saying he would ‘make way for someone who does share the mission’ of boosting the economy.
Marcus Bokkerink, chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will step down just three years into his five-year term.
And the Chancellor, speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, signalled that the more than 100 regulators in the UK was too many.
‘I think it adds to the problems and the overlapping burdens that businesses face,’ Ms Reeves said.
Ministers have demanded that UK regulators come up with ways of helping deliver growth after businesses complained of delays.
The departure of Mr Bokkerink appears calculated to send a signal that those who do not fall in line will face the axe.
He will be replaced by Doug Gurr, the former UK boss of online retail giant Amazon.
Rachel Reeves speaks during the World Economic Forum in Davos. Today she put Britain’s army of more than 100 regulators on notice saying they were getting in the way of growth
Marcus Bokkerink (pictured), chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will step down just three years into his five-year term
Sceptics including Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson complain that the government’s efforts are ‘farcical’ at a time when Labour is burdening firms with higher taxes and thickets of red tape.
Mr Bokkerink’s ousting comes after the CMA was among watchdogs summoned to meet the Chancellor and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds last week and urged to ‘tear down regulatory barriers that hold back growth’.
Ms Reeves told a Bloomberg event in Davos yesterday: ‘The regulators are independent and the chair of the CMA decided to step down.
‘But he recognised that this government have got a different strategic approach when it comes to regulation and he recognised that it was time for him to move on and make way for somebody who does share the mission and the strategic direction this government are taking.’
Ms Reeves later told reporters: ‘The balance has moved too far in regulating for risk.
‘Obviously you’ve got to be able to protect consumers but people should be able to take risks as well. And there’s been a lack of regulation for growth.’
Some regulators have already been given a ‘secondary objective’ to encourage growth but that was ‘never really followed through’, Ms Reeves said.
‘We’re saying all regulators need to be part of that growth mission. We’ve written to all of them – more than 100 regulators we now have in the UK – to say, what can you do to help meet this government’s number one mission to grow the economy?
Sceptics including Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson (pictured) complain that the government’s efforts are ‘farcical’ at a time when Labour is burdening firms with higher taxes and thickets of red tape
Attendees take part in the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos
‘There is a step change in the way that we interact with the regulators. We want them to be partners in our government mission.’
But Luke Johnson, also chairman of Gail’s Bakery, said the contrast with Donald Trump’s pro-business America ‘could not be more stark’.
He told the BBC: ‘Regulation overall is the single biggest obstacle to growth in this country. But it’s regulation across everything from the planning system to employment legislation, health and safety, the tax system. Sacking one chair of one regulator is hardly going to move the dial.
‘The idea the government is asking regulators how they can generate growth is sort of farcical.
‘They have just put forward a 125-page employment rights bill which is going to add significant cost and regulation to anyone who hires people. Do they really think that’s the right signal?’
Tommaso Valletti, professor of economics at Imperial College Business School, said it was ‘delusional’ to believe the removal of the CMA chairman would help the economy.
‘We are concentrating on something that is just going to please big businesses but we need instead to scale up the small and medium sized enterprises in the UK and this is nothing that the CMA was an impediment to,’ he said.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith (pictured) said ‘asking regulators to boost growth is a bit like asking the village speedwatch to organise the next British Grand Prix’
‘The problem is the government is lacking ideas. Regulators are always an easy target.’
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said ‘asking regulators to boost growth is a bit like asking the village speedwatch to organise the next British Grand Prix’.
He told the Commons: ‘What a desperate state we are in when the Business Secretary has to phone up the regulators to beg them for ideas to fix the lack of growth his own Government policies have created.
‘I hope that when the regulators attended that roundtable last week, including the chairman of the CMA, they had the courage to put at the top of their list scrapping his job-destroying trade union-inspired Employment Bill, or to point out the jobs tax in the Chancellor’s Budget, or their socialist attack on inheritance, non-doms and the family business death tax that’s causing one wealth creator to leave this country every 45 minutes.
‘Or even to point out that one of the best opportunities this country has for growth is to get on our plane to our closest trading partner the United States and secure a trade deal, rather than lob juvenile insults at President Trump, or fail to invite Elon Musk to the Government’s UK investment summit.’
