• What We Stand For
  • Economy
    • Business

Business

Under Labour, businesses have become increasingly burdened by taxes and red tape, consumers are losing out due to the fragmented and confusing nature of consumer law and key services like the post office network have been starved of investment.

We will consult with businesses to identify regulations for repeal, reduction or simplification. We will also end gold-plating of European Directives. We’ll ensure independent checks are carried out on the costs and benefits of new legislation and introduce sunset clauses so that regulations are time limited.

We will reform consumer law to improve the ability of people to access and secure goods and services affordably, efficiently and on fair terms. We will increase the information available to enable consumers to make more informed choices about the goods and services they consume. We will protect consumer rights by making watchdogs more powerful and accessible to the public. We’ll make it easier for consumers to report bad and unfair practices, making sure the state lives up to its responsibility to protect the ordinary citizen.

We believe there is a huge opportunity to strengthen post offices. We will split the post office network from Royal Mail so they operate as two separate organisations. We will sell 49% of the shares in Royal Mail and use the capital raised to invest directly in the postal network, support branch modernisation, build profitable businesses and promote new services. We will provide Royal Mail workers with a stake in their future by splitting the remaining 51% stake between a staff trust and the government. We will free post offices from restrictions imposed by tied contracts with the Royal Mail and free Royal Mail from Treasury borrowing controls, so it can invest.