If, like me, you have a sadistic streak, there’s much to enjoy about this Government. It’s rare that we’re able to see the shoulder devils and angels of policymaking exact their torment in real time, tugging their plaything in one direction before yanking it in the other. Under Keir Starmer’s premiership, we get to see this dynamic play out all the time.
The most recent contradiction came this week, as the Government announced plans to create a quango to enforce equal pay for ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. On one shoulder, Minister for Equalities Seema Malhotra, who led the call for evidence, had this to say:
Equality is a key factor in delivering long-term and sustainable growth across the UK economy. It is essential that individuals can achieve according to their talents, irrespective of their background.
Yet just days before this announcement, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, perched on the other shoulder, made headlines by asking government departments to justify the existence of every taxpayer-funded body not controlled by ministers. Is that a ‘bonfire of the quangos’ on the horizon?
These are two competing visions for what Britain ought to look like. McFadden’s war on quangos broadly coheres with what Labour’s higher-ups – including the Prime Minister – have been saying about the state for a little while now: that it’s bloated, ineffective and expensive. Malhotra’s well-intentioned word salad is an entrenchment of what has come to define the modern labour market and regulatory environment: risk-aversion, virtue-signalling and overreach.
We’ve already seen the damage that a misplaced focus on equity can cause. Birmingham – once dubbed ‘the workshop of the world’ – is now a post-industrial dump where cat-sized rats weave between bin bags left in the street by refuse collectors on strike due to an ongoing pay dispute. The origin of the disagreement? An equal-pay ruling estimated at £760 million which effectively caused Birmingham City Council to declare bankruptcy in 2023.
The ruling was absurd in the extreme. Workers in female-dominated council jobs, such as catering, successfully demanded that they be awarded compensation for years of being paid less than workers in male-dominated roles, such as waste collection. It should go without saying that these jobs are entirely different from one another. It seems uncontroversial to suggest that a binman, who starts work at the crack of dawn and spends their day wading through filth, should be paid more than those cooking lunch at the council. It also used to be obvious that markets, not judges, are the best way to work out fair wage levels.
Yet to one, sizeable Labour faction, these equal pay rulings are something to be proud of. Which is why, at the same time as it talks about freeing up businesses to deliver the growth that Keir Starmer bangs on about, the Government seems intent on bogging business down with yet more rules.
Take the Employment Rights Bill. By the Government’s own workings, the legislation will saddle businesses with at least £5 billion of extra costs, demanding that employers afford workers allowances that could harm productivity, such as an enshrined right to work from home. Rather than unleashing the power of private enterprise by making it easier for firms to hire freely, take calculated risks and downsize when needed, Labour are feeding our beast of a human resources industry and making it more simple for employers to be taken to court over spurious claims of discrimination.
This is the future if Labour take the advice of their shoulder devil: promises of growth and an effective state will remain rhetorical and their old, statist impulses will guide policy.
Alternatively, the beginnings of a more positive strategy are emerging. McFadden’s plan to draw up a quango hit list is welcome, as are the Government’s planning reforms and as are reports that Labour will give the green light to build a new nuclear power plant. Yet with all of these positive steps, whether related to the structure of the state, housebuilding or energy, the Government has shown its ability to counteract them by listening to its worst elements. If we’re to have a bonfire of all things anti-growth, then Labour need to put their shoulder devils out to pasture.
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