Economist Patrick Minford urges Labour to reverse tax and regulatory policies to revive UK growth

Economist Patrick Minford warned in a Daily Mail opinion piece that the Labour government must reverse course at the next Budget to restore growth, arguing four policy shifts are needed to halt what he described as a slide toward stagnation and recession.

Minford, professor of applied economics at Cardiff Business School, said Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abandon what he called class-war policies, cut the tax burden on entrepreneurs and businesses, recommit to sound public finances aimed at getting people into work, embrace free markets and restore a tax regime that incentivises investment.

In the piece, Minford credited Margaret Thatcher’s tax cuts and deregulatory approach in the 1980s with reviving Britain’s entrepreneurial culture and said similar measures could revive the current economy. He also criticised recent decisions by the Labour government, saying Chancellor Reeves’s increase in National Insurance for business owners has made hiring more expensive and that Britain’s overall tax rate has risen to a record 38 percent of GDP, with the burden falling on higher earners.

Minford argued that high taxes and red tape have reduced incentives for both aspiring self‑made entrepreneurs and wealthier investors to start or back new businesses. He said capital is being sent abroad — naming destinations such as Dubai and Italy — and that the loss of such investment threatens long‑term growth.

The economist also warned that Angela Rayner’s proposed workers’ rights bill, which he said contains "swathes of red tape and regulations," would add costs and make it harder to dismiss underperforming staff. Minford cited an estimate that the bill could cost businesses about £5 billion a year and urged Starmer to abandon or substantially weaken the measure, while acknowledging Labour faces union pressure on the issue.

Minford set out his four recommendations as a sequence: restore incentives to invest and build businesses by reducing taxes and red tape; pursue long‑term sound finance focused on moving people off benefits and into employment; affirm free markets and free trade rather than protectionism or costly green energy programmes; and return to a tax policy designed to encourage rather than deter entrepreneurship.

He criticised what he termed a "Milibandist" approach to green energy, arguing it risks imposing high costs, and advised rejecting protectionist measures promoted by some in international politics. Minford also warned that attempts by Labour to retreat from its proposed policies could split the party, and that a split might precipitate an early general election — an outcome he said Reform Party leader Nigel Farage had predicted.

Addressing the opposition, Minford said Conservative politicians such as Kemi Badenoch have an opportunity to adopt a Thatcher‑style strategy, including renewed North Sea exploration for oil and gas, withdrawing the state from industry, resisting nationalisation of steel and introducing more private competition on rail routes.

The article presents Minford’s prescriptions and warnings as the author's view and policy recommendations rather than as statements of fact about future outcomes. The piece appears in the Daily Mail and reflects Minford’s analysis and interpretation of current UK economic policy and risks.

Minford's arguments situate recent government measures — notably the National Insurance rise and the proposed workers’ rights bill — as central factors he believes are denting business confidence and consumer spending. He framed his recommendations in historical terms, drawing on his advisory role in the early 1980s to argue that tax‑cuts and deregulation previously produced stronger growth.

The commentary calls on Labour to make immediate changes at the next Budget to avoid a prolonged period of slow growth, while urging the Conservative opposition to present an alternative rooted in lower taxation and market competition. The piece is an opinion column and represents Minford’s assessment of what policy shifts would, in his view, reverse current economic trends.