Starmer throws down gauntlet to watchdogs with growth edict
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Sir Keir Starmer has ordered Britain's key watchdogs to remove barriers to growth in a bid to kickstart Britain's sluggish economy. Sky News has learnt that the prime minister wrote to more than ten regulators - including Ofgem, Ofwat, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority - on Christmas Eve to demand they submit a range of pro-growth initiatives to Downing Street by the middle of January.
One recipient of the letter, which was also signed by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said it was unambiguous in its direction to regulators to prioritise growth and investment. The Financial Reporting Council, Ofcom, the Environment Agency and healthcare regulators are also all understood to have been sent it.
It comes after a torrid first few months in office for the PM, who has been forced onto the back foot by a series of damaging sleaze rows and turbulent policymaking. October's Budget, which involved pledges to raise taxes by tens of billions of pounds, triggered a bruising backlash from the private sector, with bosses in a string of sectors warning that it will fuel inflation and cause job losses and business closures.
One regulatory source said this weekend that the letter to watchdogs and a wider drive for regulatory reform emanating from Downing Street were the brainchild of Varun Chandra, the PM's special advisor on business and investment. Searchlight shines on £140m funding package for insurer Wefox.
