The Adam Smith Institute responds to the Chancellor’s speech on ‘kick-starting growth’

Commenting on the Chancellor’s speech on ‘kick-starting growth,’ Maxwell Marlow, Director of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, said:

“There were a number of positive announcements in the Chancellor’s speech. The Ox-Cam arc will provide vital lab space for R&D projects, make it easier for people to live near highly-skilled jobs, and help to build a British economy fit for the 21st century. The accompanying new reservoirs are a vital component of this new mega-project, especially considering we haven’t built a new reservoir since 1992. And a third runway at Heathrow is a clear, pro-growth move, which will boost trade, reduce flight costs for Brits and actually reduce overall pollution and noise because planes will be able to land more quickly, rather than waiting for a runway to free up. However, as with all government announcements, we must wait to see if they actually manage to achieve this. 

But the overall mantra of safetyism could be the plan’s undoing. Growth is created by the private sector, supported by a permissive regulatory environment, rather than regulators. Truly embracing markets, rather than the siren songs of the regulators and a subsidy-heavy Industrial Strategy, will unlock the growth the Chancellor is looking for.

In this speech, the Chancellor said that she wants the UK to be the ‘best place in the world to be an entrepreneur.’ But her own announcements in the last budget are putting this at risk. Tax rises on businesses are making it hard for them to scale up, or employ new workers, whilst the abolition of the non-dom regime has been driving away many of our wealth-creators. In order to achieve the growth, rising living standards, and improving public services that the government has promised, she must go all guns blazing with radical tax and regulatory reform.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

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