Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left administration is eager to attract investment into Britain’s sluggish economy, and to convince corporations that its push to improve workers’ rights won’t come at the expense of businesses. It also needs to reassure trade unions, which are key Labour backers, that wooing business won’t come at workers’ expense.
“This is the moment to back Britain,” he said, pledging to oversee a “hard-headed” industrial strategy and “galvanize growth” but slashing unnecessary regulation.Unions worry that may mean lowering standards on health, safety and the environment, a claim the government denies. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said reducing red tape did not mean “cutting corners or lowering standards, but making sure that the government takes on some of the burden of compliance, so that our nation can benefit.
Its parent company, Dubai-based DP World, reportedly threatened to pull out of the investment conference because of the remarks. After Starmer rebuked Haigh and reassured the company that hers was “not the view of the government,” DP World confirmed Monday it would invest in a 1 billion pound expansion of the London Gateway container port.
Not among them was Musk, whose social media platform X was used to spread false information during anti-immigrant violence that erupted in Britain this summer. Musk himself posted messages insulting Starmer and saying the UK was headed for civil war.