PM to attack ‘cottage industry of blockers’ as he vows to cut red tape

Sir Keir Starmer will promise to slash the cost of red tape as he sets out his plan to reshape the state to cope with an “era of instability”.

In what Downing Street has described as an “intervention” on Thursday, the Prime Minister is expected to argue that global uncertainty means the Government must “go further and faster in reshaping the state to make it work for working people”.

As well as vowing to cut the cost of regulation for businesses by 25%, Sir Keir will use his remarks to say he will refocus the state on his key missions and create “an active government that takes care of the big questions, so people can get on with their lives”.

He will say: “The need for greater urgency now could not be any clearer. We must move further and faster on security and renewal.

“Every pound spent, every regulation, every decision must deliver for working people.”

Sir Keir will also take aim at a “cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery for working people”, continuing his criticism of regulation in the UK.

On Tuesday, he instructed ministers to stop a “trend” of “outsourcing” decisions to “other bodies” begun under the previous government and assess whether regulations contributed to Labour’s agenda.

Later the same day, the Government also announced that the Payment Systems Regulator will be abolished and merged with the Financial Conduct Authority in what Sir Keir said was “the latest step in our efforts to kickstart economic growth”.

Ministers appear to have grown increasingly frustrated with the role of regulators as they attempt to boost the UK’s economy, with the Chancellor urging them to focus more on encouraging growth.

On Thursday, Sir Keir is also expected to expand on his plans to overhaul the Civil Service, reducing its size and doubling the proportion of officials working in digital and data roles in an effort to save taxpayers up to £45 billion.

He will set out proposals to recruit 2,000 tech apprentices to boost the take-up of AI on Whitehall, saying: “No person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard.”

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said it was “right that the Government are pressing ahead with plans to make better use of new tech”, but added it would “find it challenging to compete for the skills needed” without increasing pay.

He added: “Civil servants are not hostile to reforms but these must be undertaken in partnership with staff and unions.

“I urge everyone in Government to avoid the incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States, and to be clear that reforms are about enhancing and not undermining the Civil Service.”

Labour’s plans to shrink the Civil Service and cut back on regulators have been likened in some quarters to the major cuts inflicted on the US government by Donald Trump’s administration.

Ministers are said to have been interested in proposals to reshape the state put forward by the influential Labour Together think tank – dubbed “Project Chainsaw”, according to the Guardian newspaper.

But Downing Street has rejected this characterisation – a reference to Trump adviser Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw to represent his cuts to government spending – with the Prime Minister’s press secretary describing it as “juvenile”.

She added: “It is not about slashing the state, it is about reshaping the state so it works for working people.”

FDA union general secretary Dave Penman suggested civil servants would be “looking for substance” but “feeling that, once again, the Prime Minister is using the language of blame rather than transformation”.

He said: “Regulators are set up by ministers to regulate – if there’s a cottage industry at large then it’s because that’s what previous governments have wanted.

“Blaming public servants for doing the job they were tasked with by ministers is just cheap politics and is increasingly following a pattern where the Government appears more interested in headlines than leadership.”

Alex Burghart, Conservative shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, said: “Labour is not serious about getting Britain growing.

“The Prime Minister has no plan to reform the Civil Service or cut public spending.

“Thanks to his budget the size of the state will reach a staggering 44% of GDP by 2030. Meanwhile, businesses are being strangled by Rachel Reeves’s taxes and Angela Rayner’s red tape. Labour need to admit they’ve got it wrong on the economy.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey dismissed Sir Keir’s proposals as “tinkering around the edges while our economy continues to stutter”, and called for an “ambitious new deal with the EU” to boost trade and grow the economy.

He added: “The last Conservative government left behind mountains of waste, but these measures are doomed to fail without far more ambition to get the economy growing.

“Keir Starmer needs to act now by reversing his devastating national insurance jobs tax and moving much faster to fix social care – the only way to save the NHS.”