It Whitehall ‘Blob’ has been accused of watering down post-Brexit plans for freeports.
Senior officials are said to have effectively ‘killed’ ministers’ hopes for the low-tax, low-regulation zones – a key policy designed to boost local economies.
The plans are less ambitious than originally planned, but the number of participants has been limited to ten. This leaves many areas frustrated.
It is the latest row between the Government and the unelected civil servants dubbed ‘the Blob’, who are widely believed to be undermining Tory manifesto pledges.
Rishi Sunak who was the champion of the concept of freeports was asked to insist on improvements from his Treasury team
Last night, Rishi Sunak (Chancellor), who was an advocate for freeports, was asked to ask his Treasury team to make improvements.
Tory MP John Redwood said: ‘The first freeports should have opened on January 2. The Treasury was slow to react.
‘I think it’s deeply disappointing. They should review the whole thing, speed up proper freeports and make a much more generous offer.’
He added: ‘I think the Chancellor should go back to his original views.’
Andrew Bridgen, whose North West Leicestershire constituency will be home to the only inland freeport, added: ‘I wouldn’t want to water down or curtail them, or restrict their numbers.
‘It’s clearly something that rattles the EU, that we’re going to out-compete them.’
Eighteen areas were selected in England as first freeports in the beginning of this year. Two additional ones could open in Scotland or Wales. The first one in Teesside was operational as of Friday last week.
Another row with the civil service ‘Blob’ – a term coined by Michael Gove for the educational establishment – is brewing in the Home Office
For more investments, businesses based in these zones will pay less taxes and have simpler planning procedures.
But Richard Ballantyne of the British Ports Association, who sat on the Government’s Freeports Advisory Panel, said the scheme could have been more ambitious.
‘We’ve got about 140 locations across the country that handle freight,’ he told the Sunday Telegraph.
‘If the Government does agree with this policy, why is it just restricting it to eight now and maybe two or three more?’
Another row with the civil service ‘Blob’ – a term coined by Michael Gove for the educational establishment – is brewing in the Home Office.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is said to have labelled her officials as ‘not fit for purpose’, while in turn they are said to privately describe her as a ‘moron’.
Paul Dacre, former editor of Daily Mail, resigned last week to run for chairman of Ofcom’s broadcasting regulator. He made a vehement attack on civil servants.
He described his experience of applying for the role as an ‘infelicitous dalliance with the Blob’, claimed that only Left-wingers are given top public sector jobs and said it was senior civil servants ‘not elected politicians, who really run this country’.
Chief of CBI: The free market is dead
Ruth Sunderland is the Business Editor
CBI’s head will speak out today against free-market capitalism and claim that it has caused widespread decline in the country.
Director-general Tony Danker will tell the Confederation of British Industry conference that successive governments have let ‘old industries die’ since the 1980s, with the communities facing ‘benign neglect’ ever since.
‘We’ve had five decades where the free market has palpably failed,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘There is a debate on the Right of politics over industrial strategies and whether they should exist. It shouldn’t be. Although this is not traditional Thatcherism criticism, it does address New Labour.
Director-general Tony Danker will tell the Confederation of British Industry conference that successive governments have let ‘old industries die’ since the 1980s, with the communities facing ‘benign neglect’ ever since
‘But it is a wider critique because pretty much every institution took the same view. I don’t think you can “level up” without free-market capitalism but it is not enough on its own. We need partnership with government.’
CBI is often seen as championing free-market economics and this speech represents a major departure. It is also likely to upset Margaret Thatcher’s acolytes, who will see it as an attack on her traditional industrial policies.
Boris Johnson has put ‘levelling up’ the North at the centre of his agenda as Prime Minister, with the policy credited with earning the Tories a host of Red Wall seats at the 2019 general election.
His previous work experience includes McKinsey Business Consulting, The Treasury, and The Guardian Newspaper. Today, he will give his speech to the Port of Tyne at South Shields.