The UK regulatory regime will be reformed in order to benefit business investment, the Prime Minister pledged in a speech today.
Keir Starmer pledged to "rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment", including housebuilding, construction of data centres, warehouses and electric grid connections, and will "do everything in my power to galvanise growth including getting rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment."
An audience of big businesses and investment groups attending a major investment summit in London were told in the speech that the government will "upgrade the regulatory regime to make it fit for the modern age, making Britain fit to harness all opportunities".
This will include asking the antitrust watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to prioritise growth, investment and innovation, while the focus of other major regulators will be reviewed.
"We've got to look at regulation where it is needlessly holding back the investment, to take our country forward," Starmer said, adding that the government will tell regulators the "key test of regulation is of course growth".
Addressing concerns that some business leaders have made about the Labour government's overhaul of employment law, where a range of new rights for workers was put before parliament last week, the PM said: "Workers with more security in work, higher wages, is a better growth model for this country."
The government also last month unveiled reforms to planning laws that are being put up for consultation.