‘Labour is the party of business,’ UK’s Starmer tells corporate bigwigs

Britain’s main opposition leader Keir Starmer is pitching Labour as the party of business – Copyright AFP Julia Nikhinson

UK opposition leader Keir Starmer promised Britain’s corporate community Thursday that his Labour party would better marshal the economy than the ruling Conservatives if elected. 

Labour is streets ahead of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s party in opinion polls with a general election expected later this year, as the Tories’ reputation for economic competence takes a beating. 

Starmer addressed 400 business leaders at a conference in London, indicating how far Labour has moved to the centre since he succeeded the far-left Jeremy Corbyn in 2020. 

“The depth of the changes we’ve made to transform the Labour party’s relationship with business is something I take immense pride in,” he told chief executives and international investors.

Starmer, 61, pledged to “get underneath the bonnet and fix an unprecedented stagnation in British productivity” if his party forms the next government, as expected.

“Labour is the party of business,” he said.

UK businesses remain hampered by high inflation and stagnant growth while Britons continue to feel the pinch of one of the worst cost-of-living crises in decades.

Companies say they are also facing added costs caused by Brexit.

Labour finance spokeswoman Rachel Reeves told the gathering that Labour would bring “stability” following chaotic Tory rule that has seen five prime ministers since the 2016 EU referendum.

“We will campaign as a pro-business party and we will govern as a pro-business party,” she said, vowing that Labour would not hike corporation tax levied on businesses in its first term of office.

Veteran socialist Corbyn had pledged to raise the rate before the last election in 2019, when Labour suffered a landslide defeat to the Conservatives under Brexit champion Boris Johnson. 

Reeves, a former Bank of England economist, defended Labour’s pledge not to restore a cap on bankers’ bonuses that was axed by the Conservatives.

“The last thing they (business) need is more chopping and changing,” she said.

Sunak claims he has put Britain’s economy back on track, including by halving inflation, and that Labour would take the UK “back to square one”.