Labour's business naivety is palpable, says ALEX BRUMMER
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Keir Starmer's government doesn't get business. Forget the pre-election hoopla of cosying up to enterprise and the £63billion of pledges made at the October 2024 investment summit. Starmer and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves are clueless on how to fulfil the growth mission.
Labour's agenda is to put working people first and end industrial strife. But it is at the expense of corporate Britain. The dissonance of the CBI, which has warned that Britain is facing a 'recession made in Downing Street', needs to be taken seriously.
The lack of understanding goes beyond the deeply regressive £25billion rise in employers' National Insurance Contributions. It is reflected in the raw decisions with which every government confronts commerce. Struggling: Keir Starmer's government doesn't get business, says Alex Brummer.
Nationalising the railways may appeal to aggressive and well-remunerated railwaymen. But unnecessarily putting the whole network on the national balance sheet will never make the trains run on time. Naivety and ignorance have been on display in the Government's handling of the sale of Royal Mail-owner International Distribution Services to Daniel Kretinsky.
The Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds ignored the fact that his wealth derives from his part-ownership of pipelines delivering fuel from President Putin's Russia to Europe. Dealing with Gazprom requires the beneficiary of the trade to visit the Kremlin and pay obeisance.
