British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told global business leaders on Monday it was “time to support Britain” as he aimed to secure much-needed funding to boost economic growth following post-Brexit chaos. Hosted a major summit.
Starmer told business leaders that his recently elected Labor government would “eliminate the bureaucracy that blocks investment” and promised to cut red tape.
The Prime Minister – walking a difficult path to being both pro-business and pro-labor, with a series of new workplace safety measures for employees – has attached great importance to the international investment summit in London.
He hopes that the announcement of foreign investment worth billions of pounds (dollars) in UK projects will put an end to its chaotic situation.
Starmer won a landslide majority in the July election, but has seen his government’s popularity decline after a series of missteps, with a recent YouGov poll showing only 18 percent of the public approved of its performance.
The Prime Minister said his focus is not on “days or hours of the news grid” but on the “golden opportunity” that his election mandate presents to deliver on his central mission of growing the UK economy.
Starmer said, “Private sector investment is the way we rebuild our country and pay our way in the world. Make no mistake, this is a fantastic moment to support Britain.”
He promised that where regulation is currently “stopping us from building homes, data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, train lines, you name it, then mark my words – we’ll get rid of it”.
“We will root out the bureaucracy that blocks investment,” he said, promising that his administration will “make sure that every regulator in this country takes growth as seriously as we do”.
Starmer said he was “determined to improve Britain’s brand as an open, outward-looking, confident trading nation”.
Ministers are set to announce major investment deals worth billions in AI, life sciences and infrastructure, having already unveiled £24 billion pounds ($31.4 billion) in green energy projects, including one by Spanish giant Iberdrola. £12 billion and £8.0 billion by the Danish firm. Orsted.
– P&O Row –
Preparations for the summit were dominated by criticism of its organisation, failure to attract top names and a controversy involving DP World, the Dubai owners of shipping company P&O, which jeopardized a £1 billion investment project.
DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem threatened not to attend the summit after Transport Minister Louise Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner called P&O’s employment practices “dishonest” and “exploitative”.
Final stage negotiations begin with the UK Government and DP World reveals that the P&O investment will go ahead to expand the London Container Port.
While around 200 private sector executives were expected to attend, many multinational owners and tech giants chose not to attend.
Even the opportunity to meet Britain’s head of state, King Charles III, at the closing ceremony on Monday evening failed to woo him.
The Financial Times attributed the summit’s low attendance partly to concerns over its “quality and organization”.
Five days before the event, the start time and location had still not been confirmed.
The business daily said two foreign companies seeking urgent information were surprised to receive “out-of-office” messages from organizers.
Then the top-secret guest list was accidentally exposed when organizers sent an email to all confirmed participants without hiding their addresses.
The timing of the summit – two days after Labor completed its 100th day in office – has also caused unease.
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves presents Labour’s first budget in two weeks’ time, as businesses brace themselves for a possible rise in capital gains tax.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
