Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves during a visit to Premier Modular in Driffield, Humberside, January 30, 2025
SOLOMON HUGHES examines how Labour has gone from blaming Tory deregulation for our economic woes to betting the nation’s future on more of it
WHEN Keir Starmer finally got his prime ministerial phone call with President Trump on Sunday, according to Number 10 the two “discussed trade and the economy, with the Prime Minister setting out how we are deregulating to boost growth.”
Which is odd, because the word “deregulation” isn’t in the Labour manifesto. In fact, before the election Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds argued deregulation was a Tory sin that didn’t bring growth.
Starmer was telling Trump the truth — Labour are pressing regulators to let business do what it wants in the desperate hope they will get some “growth” to drag up their low polling. But why does Keir tell Trump the truth before British voters?
Perhaps aware that they had stumbled into openly admitting they are a “deregulation” government, despite previous promises, Starmer finally decided to lay this out by writing in The Times, making a Tory argument in the Tory press.
In his Times article Starmer admitted: “This may seem like an unusual goal for Labour politicians. But deregulation is now essential for realising Labour ambitions in this era.”
He referred admiringly to Thatcher’s deregulation and launched into purple prose about the need to hack at “thickets of red tape” to “clear out the regulatory weeds and allow a new era of British growth to bloom” and “curb regulator overreach.”
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves at the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, September 23, 2024
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One of Labour’s few redistributive policies attempting to tap the immense wealth of the filthy rich — a crackdown on the abuse of non-dom status to avoid tax — is to be softened, Chancellor Rachel Reeves says, because she has been “listening to the concerns” raised by the non-dom “community.”
She won’t listen to concerns over children trapped in poverty by the discriminatory two-child benefit cap.
Or over the impact of restricting winter fuel payments when energy prices are twice what they were a couple of years ago, even when those concerns convince her own party to vote against the policy at its conference, and prompt Labour’s biggest affiliate Unite to challenge the government in court.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Or even over the U-turn on compensating the Waspi women, despite leading Labour politicians having championed their cause for years.
Reeves’s selective approach to people’s concerns applies to the environment too, even as yet another severe storm closes schools and transport systems, and despite years of worsening floods and failing crops. Sod the science, says Reeves, growth trumps net zero.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Limiting action on the accelerating climate catastrophe to measures which don’t affect corporate profits is one reason the world continues to warm uncontrollably.
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Labour’s growth policies across the board simply turn government into a doormat for big business. Rather than publicly fund infrastructure projects in the public interest, Labour will scrap regulations to weaken rights to object to construction by the private sector.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves wear the uniform of the rich and powerful. They have all had clothes bought for them by multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Alli. CORRECTION: It appears that Rachel Reeves clothing was provided by Juliet Rosenfeld.
The same deference to the right of construction firms to do as they please applies to housing. But it is not over-regulation which stymies house-building in Britain but land-banking aimed at keeping prices high. Urban development in major cities like London and Manchester is blighted by developers’ lack of accountability to communities, as working-class neighbourhoods are driven out by construction of luxury flats designed to accumulate value, not house locals.
Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.
The question of the day is democracy versus capitalism. Defending our communities and rights as citizens means building resistance through any means we can: trades councils, People’s Assembly branches, even Morning Star supporters’ groups can be hubs to bring activists together. The future is looking ugly if we cannot unite to do that.
