Tomorrow, Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her vision for boosting economic growth. After recent unrest in the bond markets led to calls for Reeves to step down – and even prompted a few opportunistic comparisons with Liz Truss – tomorrow’s speech is an important opportunity for the Chancellor to draw a line in the sand by etching out her pro-growth agenda.

There are worrying signs however as to what this vision might entail. If Reeves’ comments at Davos over the weekend are any indication, the chancellor’s remarks that the need for growth “trumps other things” and that “the answer can’t always be no” to major projects, suggest a big push towards deregulation. This echoes calls earlier in the month from Reeves for a “culture shift” across regulators to help drive growth by ending an “excessive focus on risk”.

This marks a clear departure from the platform Labour was elected on. Despite their manifesto promising wide ranging regulatory intervention aimed at boosting security for voters, deregulatory policy has become a key feature of the Growth Mission. The ‘Securonomics’ framework – once a hallmark of Rachel Reeves’ philosophy – is being benched in favour of an all too familiar growth-at-any-cost strategy.

 

More of the same

 

Deregulatory actions taken in the past month include:

  • Financial Services: The Financial Conduct Authority was pressed to relax mortgage lending rules and stress tests, despite warnings from its own chief executive about increased defaults and repossessions
  • Competition Policy: The forced resignation of Competition and Markets Authority Chair Marcus Bokkerink and his replacement with former Amazon executive Doug Gurr signals a clear move away from robust consumer protection
  • Environmental Standards: Plan to replace Environmental Impact Assessments with ‘streamlined’ Environmental Outcome Reports to fast-track projects like Heathrow’s third runway
  • Corporate Oversight: Proposal to shelve stricter audit requirements for 600 large private companies
  • Planning Rules: A push to weaken local authority powers over development
  • Worker Protections: Zero-hours contracts will no longer be completely banned and day one protection from unfair dismissal has been watered down to what is likely to be a nine-month ‘probation period’

This shift towards a greater embrace of deregulation is not without precedent. Across the Atlantic, the libertarian impulses of Elon Musk are set to be let loose on the federal government as Trump returns to the White House. Similarly, Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission has not been immune to the pressure to demonstrate appetite for red tape slashing under the euphemistic banner of “competitiveness.” High standards are now being sidelined in favour of a race to liberalise and streamline, mirroring the underlying logic of Trumpism.

Domestically, the deregulatory agenda has found a familiar champion in the mainstream press. Our ongoing analysis of UK press editorials shows that the volume of editorials calling for deregulation outstrips calls for stronger protections by 50%. The majority of these editorials calling for deregulation have taken aim at the impact of regulation on Labour’s growth agenda, criticising the ‘burdensome red tape’ Labour has placed on businesses.

But if deregulation was the answer to Britain’s economic woes, we would surely be thriving after 14 years of Conservative experiments in slashing ‘red tape’. Instead, their efforts have left us with sclerotic growth and poor enforcement across the economy.

Take Free Ports – sold as low-regulation havens that would ‘supercharge’ growth. Only six businesses took the bait. The Office for Budget Responsibility found their impact on UK GDP so negligible it would be “difficult to discern.” Or consider the Grenfell inquiry’s damning findings: an obsession with cutting red tape meant critical safety measures were ignored, with devastating consequences.

Meanwhile, our rivers are choked with sewage as water companies exploit weak enforcement. Half of local authorities haven’t prosecuted a single rogue landlord despite over 314,000 complaints. And energy firms profiteer from the cost-of-living crisis while regulators are left toothless.

Deregulation does not empower the many – it enriches the few and leaves the rest of us paying the price. And the British public knows this. Polling consistently shows they reject deregulation and value the security created through a foundation of strong social and environmental protections. Unchecked UK’s latest survey found that 79% believe strong regulation creates a ‘strong economy and stable society’. And even 69% of Conservative voters think the economy needs more regulation, not less.

 

So what next?

 

We need to leverage the collective voice of our network to push back on this damaging agenda. The evidence is clear: dismantling protections won’t deliver the stable, secure society we all want.

Whether you work in financial services, competition policy, environmental protection or consumer rights, this agenda threatens the protections we all care about. Our statement below sets out why deregulation cannot be allowed to dominate Labour’s strategy for boosting growth.

Please sign by Friday 31 January – to do so, simply email Carum Basra, our Deputy Director of Engagement (carum@unchecked.uk), with your name, title and organisation. Do share the statement with other organisations and experts who agree that social and environmental protections must be at the heart of the next Parliament.

Full statement here and below.

Statement on Protecting What Matters

 

We, the undersigned organisations and experts, are concerned about the government’s emerging deregulatory agenda.

The evidence shows that strong, well-enforced protections create the stability needed for a fair and sustainable economy. They ensure our food is safe, our workplaces secure, our environment protected, and our markets operate fairly. They provide the foundation for businesses that want to do the right thing to thrive.

Recent moves to weaken regulatory oversight – from relaxing financial rules to streamlining environmental assessments – risk undermining these vital safeguards. History shows that when protections are weakened or poorly enforced, it is communities and consumers who bear the cost.

The public understands this. Polling consistently shows that voters across the political spectrum support strong protections and proper enforcement. They recognise that rules exist to prevent harm and ensure fairness, creating an economy that works for everyone.

We therefore call on the government to:

  • Maintain robust regulatory standards across all sectors
  • Properly resource enforcement agencies to do their vital work
  • Ensure regulators can act independently in the public interest
  • Put protection of people and the environment at the heart of economic policy

Dismantling vital protections risks creating an economy that works only for the few, while leaving the majority vulnerable to harm.