Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Keir Starmer has two set-piece opportunities this month to improve the narrative of Labour’s first 100 days in office. The first is an international investment summit of 300 business leaders taking place in London today. Announcing around £40 billion of investment into the UK through deals with the private sector should have been straightforward, but has been complicated by a row involving the transport secretary whose criticism of the owner of P&O ferries as a “rogue operator” nearly led to its withdrawal from the summit, along with £1 billion of investment. Poor organisation, haphazard comms and the misspelling of a headline attendee (ex-Google chief Eric “Ed” Schmidt) haven’t helped. Executives questioned the logic of hosting the summit before, rather than after, the chancellor lays out her economic plan on 30 October. Fourteen business leaders signed a letter to today’s Times saying it was “time to invest in Britain,” but much still depends on set piece two: scoring a budget that delivers growth without spooking the markets.
