Rachel Reeves today warned Britain's army of more than a hundred regulators that they are standing in the way of growth.
It came as she took a swipe at the ousted head of the competition watchdog, saying he would “make way for someone who shares the mission” of boosting the economy.
Marcus Bokkerink, chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is stepping down just three years into his five-year term.
And the Chancellor indicated in a conversation with reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the more than a hundred regulators in Great Britain are too many.
“I think this adds to the problems and overlapping burdens that businesses face,” Ms Reeves said.
Ministers have demanded British regulators come up with ways to help deliver growth after companies complained about delays.
Mr Bokkerink's departure seems intended to send a signal that those who do not adhere to the rules will face the axe.
He will be replaced by Doug Gurr, the former British boss of online retail giant Amazon.
Rachel Reeves speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Today she warned the British army of more than a hundred regulators that they are standing in the way of growth
Marcus Bokkerink (photo), chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will step down after just three years into his five-year term
Participants take part in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos
Skeptics, including Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson, complain that the government's efforts are 'farcal' at a time when Labor is burdening businesses with higher taxes and a forest of red tape.
Mr Bokkerink's ouster comes after the CMA was among the watchdogs called to a meeting with Chancellor and Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds last week and urged to “break down regulatory barriers holding back growth”.
Ms Reeves told a Bloomberg event in Davos yesterday: 'The regulators are independent and the chairman of the CMA has decided to resign.
“But he recognized that this administration has a different strategic approach to regulation and he recognized that it was time to move on and make way for someone who shares the mission and the strategic direction this administration is taking.”
Ms Reeves later told reporters: “The balance has tipped too far in regulating risk.
'Of course you must be able to protect consumers, but people must also be able to take risks. And there is a lack of regulation for growth.”
Some regulators have already been given a “secondary objective” to boost growth, but that was “never really implemented”, Ms Reeves said.
'We say that all regulators must be part of that growth mission. We have written to all of them – the 100-plus regulators we have in Britain now – to say: what can you do to deliver on this government's main mission, which is to grow the economy?
Skeptics, including Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson (pictured), complain the government's efforts are 'farcal' at a time when Labor is burdening businesses with higher taxes and red tape
'There is a major change in the way we interact with the regulators. We want them to be partners in our government mission.”
But Luke Johnson, also chairman of Gail's Bakery, said the contrast with Donald Trump's pro-business America “couldn't be starker”.
He told the BBC: 'Regulation in general is the biggest obstacle to growth in this country. But it involves regulation of everything from the planning system to employment law, health and safety, and the tax system. Removing one chair from one supervisor will hardly move the switch.
'The idea that the government is asking regulators how to generate growth is quite a farce.
“They have just introduced a 125-page labor rights bill that will impose significant costs and regulations on anyone who employs people. Do they really think this is the right signal?'
Tommaso Valletti, professor of economics at Imperial College Business School, said it was “delusional” to believe the CMA chairman's resignation would help the economy.
“We are focusing on something that will only please the big companies, but we need to scale up Britain's SMEs instead and this is nothing that the CMA has been a barrier to doing,” he said.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith (pictured) said that 'asking regulators to boost growth is a bit like asking the village speed guard to organize the next British Grand Prix'
'The problem is that the government has no ideas. Supervisors are always an easy target.'
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said that 'asking regulators to boost growth is a bit like asking the village speed guard to organize the next British Grand Prix'.
He told the House of Commons: 'What a desperate state we are in when the Business Secretary has to call the regulators to beg them for ideas to solve the lack of growth that his own government policies have created.
'I hope that when the regulators attended that roundtable last week, including the chairman of the CMA, they had the courage to put at the top of their list scrapping his job-destroying, union-inspired Employment Bill, or pointing to the jobs tax in the Chancellor's Budget, or their socialist attack on inheritances, non-doms and the death tax on family businesses that sees a wealth creator leave this country every 45 minutes.
“Or even to point out that one of the best opportunities this country has for growth is to get on our plane to our closest trading partner, the United States, and make a trade deal, instead of insulting President Trump or not to invite Elon Musk to the UK government investment summit.'
