Ten bold ideas to fire up the British economy
Morning Wire is about to take its traditional two-week break from printing the newspaper. Very French of us, I know.
Don’t worry – the team’s not going anywhere and the website, app, newsletters and studios will continue to fire on all cylinders. But since this is the last Editor’s Letter I’ll pen before we fire up the print presses again in September, I thought I’d leave you with some food for thought: ten ideas that came to mind as I strolled yesterday from Bank station to our office on Lower Thames Street.
Ten ideas to really move the dial on economic growth. Space is tight so I’ll have to rattle through them, but here we go.
One: Scrap non-compete clauses and allow for no notice periods if by mutual consent. This would add some spice and dynamism to the professional services labour market.
Two: Unfreeze income tax thresholds and commit to raising them in line with inflation each year. Because people need to feel like they’re not being taken for a ride.
Three: Abolish stamp duty on shares. Economists tend to agree this is one of the most pro-growth tax cuts and that it would pay for itself in no time.
Four: Repeal the Employment Rights Act. Britain was not the Wild West of employment law before this beast was introduced and it will gum up our labour market for years.
Five: Introduce legislation to end absurd Equal Pay claims. New Zealand did it with the stroke of a pen.
Six: Scrap local planning committees in favour of Zonal Development Rights. End the case-by-case scrutiny of local councils and build, baby, build!
Seven: Fully repeal all “social value” regulations associated with procurement. Price and quality should be all that matters.
Eight: Put government impact assessments of their own policies on a statutory footing. If the regulatory body concludes a policy will have a net cost to the economy (as with much of the Employment Rights Act) it should go back to the drawing board.
Nine: Create a light-touch employment law and tax code for firms with fewer than 20 employees. Give them some space to grow.
Finally, announce the abolition of the triple lock on the state pension. Declare that it will rise in line with inflation, but remove the other measures by which the benefit is often calculated. This makes complete sense and everyone in Westminster knows it.
Consider this the Morning Wire Ten Point Plan for Growth. Email me from the beach to let me know what you think of it.