Johnson and Sunak consult industry leaders

PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak met top business leaders on Monday (18) to ask them for their thoughts on economic policy, part of efforts to explore ways of boosting growth in Britain outside the European Union. After completing Britain’s journey out of the EU on December 31, Johnson spoke to businesses about policy ideas to boost growth now the country is no longer bound by the bloc’s rules.

This is seen as increasingly pressing because the coronavirus pandemic, which has flared again largely because of a highly contagious new variant, has plunged Britain into a worse economic slump than almost all of its peers.

Alongside Sunak, Johnson spoke to the leaders of some of Britain’s largest companies, including British Airways, BT, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and the country’s biggest carmaker, Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover.

Ahead of the meeting, Johnson’s spokesman said the council “will be an opportunity for members to share their views on the economy and provide a perspective on policy in terms of the economic recovery as we move through, and hopefully, out of the pandemic”.

The business secretary,

Kwasi Kwarteng, provided an update on the Better Regulation Cabinet Committee, describing how it would improve standards and support a conducive business environment.

Last week, the government denied a report it was planning to lower standards on workers’ rights, but some officials say ministers are looking at ways to “capitalise” on being able to diverge from EU rules and regulations.

The chancellor laid out the three pillars of the government’s plan to drive growth beyond the pandemic: investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation, according to a statement from the government.

Johnson also updated the council members on the vaccine roll-out.