Britain asked its antitrust regulator on Monday to make growth and investment a priority, as the government seeks to woo some of the world’s biggest companies at a conference in London, seeking agreements to help revive the sluggish economy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer took power in July pledging to reinvigorate dilapidated public services and infrastructure by ending an era of instability under the previous government.
Government plans to announce tens of billions of pounds worth of deals in sectors including artificial intelligence and life sciences during investment conference, attended by senior executives from Google, Blackrock and Eli Lilly.
Mr Starmer will tell them that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will be asked to prioritize growth, investment and innovation, and that action from other major regulators will also be reviewed.
“We are going to remove the bureaucracy that blocks investment and we are going to make sure that every regulator in this country takes growth as seriously as this room,” he said, according to pre-prepared speech excerpts. .
The CMA is independent, but it receives certain strategic direction from government and is accountable to parliament.
She was criticized last year for initially blocking Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard after other international regulators gave her the green light. The CMA subsequently amended its regulations to approve the transaction.
Regulation is not the only concern for investors, however.
Markets are retreating from bullish bets on Britain as hopes for a revival of growth and investment are overshadowed by concerns about the debt-laden economy and possible tax rises planned in the Budget on 30 october.
After announcing he had inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances and was bound by tax rules that limit his ability to borrow, Labour’s first budget – and those who he will target to raise funds – will be decisive for the atmosphere.
David Stevenson, fund manager at Amati Global Investors, said there was “no silver bullet” to improve investor sentiment towards the UK, tax incentives and improvements to tax relief being “difficult to implement given the budgetary situation”.
But Mr Starmer will see his landslide election victory as a chance to end “the changes, the policy changes and the band-aids that make it so difficult for investors to assess the value of a proposition”.
“Private sector investment is the way to rebuild our country and make our way in the world,” he said.
