Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have ordered Cabinet colleagues to ditch policies which could stand in the way of efforts to grow the economy. The Prime Minister said the Government’s “growth mission” was now the driving force behind policy decisions.
He told business chiefs in the City of London that had been made clear to “each of our Cabinet colleagues”. The Chancellor will deliver a major speech on Wednesday setting out plans for growth, expected to include support for expansion of Heathrow airport – an issue which Cabinet ministers including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have opposed in the past.
Sir Keir told business leaders: “When you’re answering the question, ‘should we do X, or should we do Y’, that is guided by the mission. “Should we do X? If it’s good for growth, good for wealth creation the answer is ‘yes’, if it’s not then the answer is ‘no’.
“It prioritises and gives a sense of direction to government.”. He added he was “hard-wiring growth into all the decisions of the Cabinet”. “So what Rachel and I have done is to make it clear to each of our Cabinet colleagues that in each of their briefs, growth is the number one mission,” he said.
Ministers will be expected to set out the growth credentials of new policies in order to get approval from their Cabinet colleagues, in a shake-up to the usual system to get “collective agreement” on substantive changes. The Prime Minister has asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald to implement the changes.
