Starmer enjoys reset moment after difficult 100 days – but big test lies ahead

Published

3 months ago

October 14, 2024

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It was billed as a “big moment” for the Starmer administration and, arriving at Labour’s International Investment Summit, it was clear how seriously the government was taking it

The venue was the spectacular 15th century Guildhall in the heart of the City of London, where 200 leading executives gathered with the UK’s prime minister, cabinet, first ministers and mayors to talk about investment in the UK.

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Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury in Netflix’s wildly successful Bridgerton, was the day’s host, with the one-day summit to be capped off by a glittering reception in St Paul’s Cathedral hosted by King Charles, a three Michelin star meal and a performance by Sir Elton John.

Sir Keir Starmer depicted this summit as a key moment in reviving Britain’s global standing in the world as he promised investors he would “do everything in power to galvanise growth”.

He promised investors an end to “the culture of chop and change” with “mission-led mindset that thinks in years”, a new industrial strategy, and pledged to “rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment” to make sure Britain’s regulators are geared for growth.

“We will make sure that every regulator in this country… takes growth as seriously as this room does,” he said.

After a difficult first 100 days beset by infighting in the prime minister’s Downing Street and rows over freebies, the Starmer team wanted to make day 101 of this Labour government a moment to reset and get back to the business of the the PM’s first mission – economic growth.

And while Sir Keir didn’t make any specific reference to his first 100 days in his speech to investors, there was a nod to the frustration I’m told he had been feeling in recent weeks, as he sought to inject some momentum into his new government.

He said: “We know – just as every leader knows, that those early weeks and months are precious,

“And no matter how many people advise you to ignore it, you must run towards the fire to put it out, not let it spread further. So we will fix our public services. We will stabilise our economy and we will do it quickly.”

Ripping up bureaucracy to create “shock and awe” investment.

It is not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a government. Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, who joined Keir Starmer in conversation after the PM’s speech, told the audience of business executives he was “shocked when I heard Labour was in favour of growth,” before going on to say there was “plenty of money that’s going to come into the country” if the government could tackle regulation.

But he also warned the prime minister he would not be able to achieve his goal of clean energy in 2030 without dealing with regulation.

No 10 insiders tell me that the task in the coming months is to “rewire” each regulator – digital, water, energy, competition – for the next decade, with one figure telling me “cutting red tape is about making sure the UK regime doesn’t look too severe, especially relative to our size and influence on global markets”.

One Whitehall official offers up an example of the Competition and Markets Authority which investigated a tie-up between Amazon and an AI company, Anthropic, despite the latter having no business in the UK, which only served to make the UK look anti-tech (the investigation has since been dropped).

For Treasury insiders, the £60bn of investment into new shovel-ready projects announced alongside the investment summit is a significant boon after a difficult few weeks.

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“We’ve beaten expectations,” says one government figure, pointedly remarking that the Conservative government’s investment summit last year raised £28bn.

“Politics is like a see-saw. When you’re down, you can’t do anything right, but when you’re up, you can’t do anything wrong. This was also the conception. To have a summit in the first 100 days of the government where we were banging the drum beat for Britain.”

There will be questions over how Labour can square off the growth plan with Sir Keir’s raft of new workers’ rights – something that the PM tackled head-on in this speech when he told the audience that “workers with more security in work, higher wages, is a better growth model for this country”.

There are also questions about whether the big growth sale made to 200 chief executives, representing an astonishing £40trn of assets, will jar when the budget comes around on 30 October.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted it will be a growth budget, but there are growing expectations Labour will raise billions of pounds in business taxes by including employer pension contributions in the national insurance system.

The chancellor could raise £18bn a year by the end of 2030 if she levies a flat 13.8% rate on pension contributions, according to research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

One Treasury figure said it wasn’t true that investors were “trapped in a cycle of only caring about a budget. They want a government with a sense of stability and purpose. That’s about tax and spend, but it’s also: regulations and barriers matter, planning reform matters, stable government and a big majority, which is what Labour has, matters.”

This Investment summit, long in the making, has taken on new significance for a Starmer government in search of a fresh start after a difficult first 100 days.

Ministers will arrive at St Paul’s this evening feeling that they, at last, have something to celebrate.

The next big test will be the budget later this month, but the much bigger task is to turn the promises made on the stage into a framework that unlocks billions more than the down-payment from business promised today.

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Was Tusk doing Brussels’s bidding with his ‘Breturn’ plea?

Published

2 hours ago

January 18, 2025

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Was Tusk doing Brussels's bidding with his 'Breturn' plea?

When Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is just one point behind you in the opinion polls, the last thing you want to be reminded about is Brexit.

If you’re Sir Keir Starmer, that is.

No doubt Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, was trying to be friendly. After all, as Sir Keir said, they share a passion for Arsenal Football Club.

But when Mr Tusk declared at their joint news conference in Warsaw that his dream was “instead of a Brexit, we will have a Breturn”, Sir Keir visibly cringed.

Was it an ambush? Not quite. But it was certainly awkward for the UK prime minister. He stood stiffly and didn’t respond, not once uttering the word “Brexit”.

Mr Tusk, however, has form for bemoaning Brexit. He was, after all, the president of the European Council when the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016.

He might now be in his second spell as Poland’s PM, but his five years at the EU make him the ultimate Brussels insider, who’s never made any attempt to hide his feelings on Brexit.

Prior to the UK referendum, in September 2015, he said Brexit “could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also of western political civilisation in its entirety”.

His most outspoken attack on the UK’s Eurosceptics came in 2019 when the-then prime minister Theresa May was struggling to get a deal. He spoke of “what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit“.

Standing alongside Sir Keir, he revealed that “for obvious reasons” they discussed co-operation between the UK and the EU. He recalled that his emotional reaction to the referendum in 2016 was “I already miss you”.

He went on: “This is not just about emotions and sentiments – I am aware this is a dream of mine, that instead of a Brexit we will have a Breturn.

“Perhaps I’m labouring under an illusion. I’d rather be an optimist and harbour these dreams in my heart – sometimes they come true in politics.”

A dream? Or a calculated move? As a Brussels insider, was Mr Tusk speaking for the EU as a whole? Was he doing Brussels’ bidding?

He may have returned to lead his homeland, but he remains a key player in Brussels.

On becoming Poland’s PM in 2023, he ended a dispute with Brussels which unlocked billions of frozen EU funds for his country.

He also orchestrated the return of his centre-right ally Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president.

And Poland has just taken over the rotating presidency of the EU, which means Mr Tusk will be hugely influential once again, chairing meetings and setting agendas.

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Poland is back in the European mainstream. It’s where Mr Tusk would like the UK to be as well.

It’s where, privately, Sir Keir would like the UK to be. It’s just that with Reform UK almost neck and neck with Labour in the polls, he daren’t say so.

Politics

Polish PM says he ‘dreams’ of a ‘Breturn’ as UK seeks new defence pact with ally

Published

3 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Polish PM says he 'dreams' of a 'Breturn' as UK seeks new defence pact with ally

Poland’s prime minister has said he hopes for the “Breturn” of the UK as a member of the European Union – as he discussed a defence treaty with Sir Keir Starmer.

Donald Tusk, who was hosting the prime minister for discussions on a UK-Polish defence pact in Warsaw, said it was his “dream” that “instead of a Brexit, we will have a Breturn”.

Standing alongside Sir Keir at a joint news conference, the Polish premier also said he had discussed greater cooperation between the UK and the EU.

Mr Tusk, who was the president of the European Council during the years that Britain left the EU, said: “For obvious reasons, we also discussed another issue, the cooperation between Great Britain and the European Union.

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“I’m sure you will recall when we learned about the results of the Brexit referendum. I was head of the European Council… at that time. My first emotional reaction was to say: ‘I already miss you.’

“I remember our press briefings as if it was yesterday. I already miss you, that’s what I said.”

He added: “This is not just about emotions and sentiments – I am aware this is a dream of mine, that instead of a Brexit we will have a Breturn.

“Perhaps I’m labouring under an illusion. I’d rather be an optimist and harbour these dreams in my heart – sometimes they come true in politics.”

Sir Keir, who held the role of shadow Brexit secretary while Labour was in opposition and backed remain in the 2016 referendum, has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the customs union or single market.

He has, however, said he wants to deepen post-Brexit ties with Brussels

Mr Tusk was speaking after Sir Keir travelled to Poland to discuss a defence pact with the NATO ally – which Mr Tusk said he hoped would be ratified “this year”.

The new treaty is designed to protect Europe from Russian aggression, tackle people-smuggling gangs, and combat misinformation and cyber threats.

Sir Keir was also asked whether the UK’s attendance at a defence summit in Poland earlier this week meant he was in favour of “creating an army” for Europe – to which he replied he was not.

Asked about the E5 defence ministers meeting in Warsaw and whether he supported creating a common European army, Sir Keir said: “The meeting that happened the other day is vitally important. That isn’t about creating armies.

“It’s about how we share our security concerns and build on what we’ve already got.”

As part of the defence pact, a £4bn partnership for new air defence systems in Poland has been agreed. The project will be headquartered in Bristol.

“The UK has secured £8bn of defence deals in Poland over the last three years alone, and we’re going further today, opening a new joint programme office in Bristol to deliver our £4bn partnership, to deliver the next generation of air defence systems to Poland,” he said.

He added: “We share an unbreakable commitment to NATO and an unbreakable commitment to Ukraine.”

During his visit to Poland, Sir Keir also made his first visit to Auschwitz, which he described as “utterly harrowing”.

The prime minister visited the former Nazi concentration camp, where he laid a wreath ahead of the 80th anniversary of its liberation.

After he and his wife Victoria, who is Jewish, visited the site, Sir Keir said: “Nothing could prepare me for the sheer horror of what I have seen in this place. It is utterly harrowing.

“The mounds of hair, the shoes, the suitcases, the names and details, everything that was so meticulously kept, except for human life.”

His visit to Poland came following a surprise trip to Kyiv on Thursday, where he reiterated his support for Ukraine and suggested that British troops could be deployed to the country as part of peacekeeping efforts.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Keir said the UK would play its “full part” in any peace negotiations – including by deploying British troops for peacekeeping – though added that he did not want “to get ahead of ourselves”.

During his visit, Sir Keir also met Polish businesses, including the firm InPost which has announced it will invest a further £600m into the UK in the next five years to grow its operations.

It is thought that the overall £1bn investment by the firm, which operates parcel lockers, could support up to 12,000 new jobs.