LABOUR is showing off its latest recruit, Iain Anderson. The party is so excited this “business leader” who “used to vote Tory” is now backing Labour that shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds got him to write a report of recommendations for Labour’s business policy.

If you read what Anderson wrote, if you read his report, and look at the “business” he “leads,” it becomes pretty clear that he hasn’t shifted his views much. But he is helping shift labour towards deregulation, which may well help the clients of his lobbying firm.

Anderson wrote a piece for the Times talking about his conversion to Labour. Anderson joined the Tories in 1984 and says:

“Being a Conservative was a profoundly important part of my own identity. For me, it always meant first and foremost being the party of economic competence — of business and enterprise — of safeguarding and cherishing our national institutions for social and economic good, and of securing our country and our Union.”

Anderson claims he was part of “the long tradition of One Nation conservatism.” But the Tories in 1984 weren’t some One Nation party safeguarding national institutions for social good. They were the Thatcherite neoliberals ripping up the social fabric.

Anderson stuck with the Tories through the miners’ strike, the Poll Tax, Section 28, and all the divisive, class war illiberalism that made his “one nation” claims look ridiculous.

Anderson claims his Tory last straw was when Liz Truss and her “mini-budget” of September 2022 “blew up Conservative economic credibility.”

But in the 2022 Tory leadership contest, Anderson backed … Liz Truss. Anderson posted a picture of him and Truss grinning together on X writing:

“I’ve been a Conservative for almost four decades — I’ve known Liz Truss almost half that time. I’ve worked with Liz on economic reform and boosting opportunity. She has fresh ideas and real energy. She does what she says and is strong and loyal. That’s why I’m backing #LizForLeader.”

It looks to me like the last straw for Anderson was Truss helping the Tories collapse into defeat. He seems to me to be joining Labour as the “winning team,” not because of a change of heart.

Labour’s welcome for Anderson means he has written a policy review for the party which demands more Thatcherite deregulation.

In his Labour review, Anderson says businesses must be given special access to government policymaking. He is arguing that the Tories don’t listen to business enough, and Labour should do so more.

Anderson’s review says “collaboration” between government and business “should be embedded, with ongoing dialogue rather than last-minute consultation or when decisions have already been made. There should be a commitment to partnership and strategy co-creation, as well as problem-solving.”

There should be “partnership councils” between businesses and government to make this happen.

The review is quite waffly, but gets very specific when it says a Labour government should stop the “significant regulatory ‘creep’ seen in Britain since 2016.” Ministers should listen to “highly regulated” firms and then have more “high-level engagement between government and the country’s systemic regulators, to take place regularly.”

Anderson is saying government ministers should press regulators to be softer on “highly regulated” firms — like private water companies or banks.

Anderson says there would be “significant political and practical benefits from all regulators having to take into account the ‘real economy’ impacts of its decision-making — for example, providing assessments of impacts across the labour market, economic growth, and investment decisions at a regional and sectoral level.”

This suggests that if firms say any regulations will hurt jobs or investment, the regulators will be forced to back off.

Anderson is trying to dress up this call for more deregulation in the boring language of Keir Starmer’s “five missions,” quoting one corporate representative saying: “Businesses should be involved with the missions, because businesses are society.”

It’s corporate megalomania, where business isn’t part of society, alongside, say, schools or hospitals or trade unions or churches or families. They are society.

In his Times piece, Anderson says he hated “the governing chaos of the previous few years when it appeared that ‘who you know’ was more important than good government.”

“The lack of transparency, the VIP lanes and the venal profiteering from some with proximity to power in the midst of the Covid pandemic has appalled everyone.”

It’s an odd moment because Anderson’s business is actually a lobbying firm, with the awkward name H/Advisors Cicero, which offers to use its “relationships,” using ex-government advisers, to help firms get their way. It looks exactly like a “who you know” business.

Anderson is the founder and chairman of Cicero, which offers firms help with “regulatory affairs,” thanks to lobbyists who are “ex-regulators and government officials.”

Cicero says it “facilitates direct dialogues with regulatory bodies, helping to shape regulators’ approaches and policies.”

They tell clients: “Our campaigns are tailored to build robust relationships with policymakers and influencers, providing a platform to advocate effectively for your interests.”

Anderson’s Cicero tells corporations: “Specialising in political engagement, we support you in developing longstanding relationships with relevant policymakers.”

As Labour looks like a more likely government, Anderson’s Cicero hired Labour insiders like Alice Perry. The firm tells clients she “was a member of the Labour Party national executive committee for eight years, chairing it in 2021-22” and that “she was involved in drafting three general election manifestos and has extensive experience of Labour’s policy-making process.”

Cicero already had Tory insiders on staff, like Sonia Khan who “started her career in local campaigning for the Conservative Party,” who has “worked at No10 Downing Street in a bespoke campaigns team set up by David Cameron” and “also worked as a special adviser in the Treasury to former chancellors Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid and oversaw its engagement with the media.”

Anderson’s firm represents corporations including privatiser Serco, financial giants Barclays, Blackrock and the City of London, “buy now pay later” firm Klarna, and private schools lobbyists the Independent Schools Council.

Anderson says he wrote his Labour report in a “personal capacity,” but these corporations will likely be very happy that its friend is now such a good friend of a likely future Labour government.

Labour wants to embrace “business,” so it is opening its arms to a corporate lobbyist who is telling them to weaken the regulators.

Follow Solomon on X @SolHughesWriter.