Keir Starmer’s latest masterstroke? Promising to hack away at the ‘thickets of red tape’ supposedly strangling Britain’s economy. In other words, stripping away the very safeguards designed to prevent corporate exploitation, environmental destruction, and financial malpractice—all in the name of ‘growth’.
And who are the lucky beneficiaries of this great regulatory bonfire? Well, it’s certainly not the average Brit struggling with soaring costs, precarious employment, or environmental disasters. No, the champagne corks are popping in corporate boardrooms as Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves assure Britain’s business elite that regulators—the very people tasked with keeping things fair and accountable—are about to be declawed.
Slashing Protections for Growth: A History Lesson Ignored
Starmer is selling deregulation as a necessary evil, comparing his plans to Thatcher’s ‘meaningful change’. Because, of course, we all remember how well that turned out for the working class. The echoes of 2008’s light-touch financial regulation, which let banks gamble away billions before the public was forced to bail them out, are deafening. But fear not, history won’t be repeating itself—this time it’ll be worse.
Take the watchdogs—Starmer and Reeves demanded answers from 17 regulators, accusing them of hampering growth. Meanwhile, they fired the head of the Competition and Markets Authority, Marcus Bokkerink, because he apparently wasn’t on board with their vision of ‘growth at any cost’. This isn’t about making the economy work better—it’s about making it work exclusively for those who already hold all the cards.
The Price of Cutting ‘Red Tape’
What does ‘cutting red tape’ actually mean for the public? Well, let’s break it down:
Pensions Raided – Fewer restrictions on pension investments mean funds can be funnelled into high-risk ventures. Great for City traders, disastrous for pensioners who just want security.
Environmental Safeguards Slashed – Starmer argues that simplifying environmental regulations will speed up decarbonisation. Because nothing says ‘green energy transition’ like bulldozing environmental protections for corporate convenience.
Weaker Consumer Protections – The government wants to ‘streamline’ regulations, but considering financial fraud already scams the public out of £1 trillion annually, removing oversight seems like a bold choice.
Thatcher 2.0 – But Who Wins?
And let’s not forget Starmer’s new economic ‘vision’—creating ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ by linking Oxford and Cambridge with a new rail network and thousands of new homes. Sounds impressive until you realise that when ‘growth’ is prioritised over regulation, it means developers cutting corners, businesses exploiting loopholes, and—inevitably—the public being left to pick up the pieces when things go wrong.
The Great Deregulation Con
Starmer has framed this as a “change in the economic weather”, but let’s be clear: this is not about economic revival—it’s a handout to corporate Britain. The fat cats get richer, the public gets shafted, and the cycle continues.
The question is, how long before we all wake up and realise that this isn’t about ‘freeing the economy’—it’s about freeing the wealthiest from accountability?
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