THE Modern Industrial Strategy launched by Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in June includes a new “oversight unit for regulators” designed to push deregulation, which was proposed by a lobbyist working for heavily regulated industries.

Launching Labour’s keynote plan with the PM and Chancellor, Reynolds said: “Our Modern Industrial Strategy will ensure Britain is the best country to invest and do business.” Forcing regulators to bend to business is a key part of the plan, including creating a “new oversight unit for regulators.”

This new unit will “challenge unnecessary regulation.” Labour is creating a regulator for regulators to force them towards deregulation. The regulators, like Ofwat or the Gambling Commission, have some nominal independence from government, but the new “oversight unit” will be inside the Treasury, hence under political control.

The plan can be traced back to Iain Anderson, the “founding partner” and, until recently, executive chairman of lobbying company Cicero. In 2023, Anderson, a Tory backer and Liz Truss supporter, switched to Labour.

In 2024, then-shadow business secretary Reynolds got Anderson to write business policy for Labour, in a review called “A New Partnership: A Long-Term Plan for Government Business Relations.” The review says Labour should stop the “significant regulatory ‘creep’ seen in Britain since 2016” by breaking down “barriers” between politicians and regulators.

He said ministers should listen to “highly regulated” firms and then have “high-level engagement between government and the country’s systemic regulators, to take place regularly.” Anderson proposed ministers should take instruction from big firms to lean on regulators.

The new “unit for regulators” looks like a tool to make this happen. After the election, Reynolds made Anderson a non-executive director of the Department for Business and Trade. This July, Anderson stood down as chairman of Cicero. It looks like now that he has completed his job of winning over Labour to his corporate lobbyists’ interests, he is viewing it as “job done” and getting ready to move on.

Cicero Consulting’s latest clients include just the kind of “heavily regulated” firms which would welcome ministers leaning on regulators to go easy on them. They include Bet365, whose multiple fines include a £583,000 penalty imposed by the Gambling Commission last April for “anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures.”

Cicero also represents financial giants Barclays, Bank of New York Mellon and Santander, all of which have struggled with multimillion-pound fines and unwelcome rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other regulators after their involvement in the global financial crisis.

Follow Solomon Hughes on X @SolHughesWriter.