The government’s deregulatory efforts began back in January, when it ousted Marcus Bokkerink as the CMA’s chair and replaced him with Doug Gurr, Amazon’s former UK boss. Appointing a former executive of one of the world’s most powerful monopolies as the head of a competition authority is so on the nose it defies satire; unions referred to the move as a “slap in the face”.
If this wasn’t enough, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, instructed Gurr to deliver “pro-business decisions” in the role. The message from Labour is clear: we will not stand in the way of anti-competitive behaviour, regardless of the impact on people and planet.
Then, in May, the government issued a new “strategic steer to the CMA”, ordering the watchdog to prioritise “growth and investment” – a barely veiled instruction to wave through mergers and acquisitions that consolidate corporate power.
And just this week, the Financial Times reported that the chancellor plans to pursue a “blitz on bureaucracy” at the CMA by changing the way it reviews anti-competition investigations, which would likely make it easier for ministers to nudge outcomes in favour of big business. The move may come from Reeves, but its intellectual and political architect is reportedly Varun Chandra, one of Starmer’s most powerful advisers.
Chandra is a former managing partner at Hakluyt, the shadowy corporate intelligence firm founded by ex-MI6 officers, which counts among its clients many of the world’s biggest corporations and private equity funds. He retains a multimillion-pound stake in the company and deep relationships across the City and Silicon Valley. In government, he has pushed for a “pro-growth” deregulatory agenda.
This is how corporate capture works in the Labour Party today. There is a revolving door between corporate boardrooms and the highest offices of state. Ministers fall over themselves in their desperate attempts to gain the approval of the City and the Confederation of British Industry, an influential business lobby group. The party has demonstrated it is willing to take donations and gifts from almost anyone, and that it will happily return the favour by amending legislation or cutting regulation.
