Just Whose Labour Party Is This Anyway?

One thing’s clear: this isn’t the Labour of the labour movement. It’s the Labour of BlackRock, Macquarie, and the City of London.

Labour’s Corporate Sell-Out – Starmer’s Party Hands the UK to Big Business for £64 Billion

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been captured by corporate lobbyists, right-wing think tanks, and ultra-wealthy donors, who’ve moulded its policies to serve the interests of big business over the British public. From secretive Special Economic Zones (SEZs) set to cost taxpayers £64 billion over their 25-year licenses to a growth agenda that echoes Liz Truss’s failed experiment, Labour’s plans threaten to deepen inequality, privatise public assets, and saddle communities with exorbitant costs – all while betraying the voters who demanded change after 14 years of Tory austerity.

For years, the Tories were the poster child for corporate cronyism, with wealthy donors and multinational firms calling the shots. But as Keir Starmer prepares to take the keys to Downing Street, a grim reality is sinking in: Labour is just as enthralled to big business. Starmer’s party has been reshaped by shadowy think tanks, relentless corporate lobbying, and a flood of cash from tycoons, with policies that prioritise profits over people. The stakes are staggering – £64 billion in projected costs over the next 25 years for Labour’s corporate-friendly Special Economic Zones, at a jaw-dropping £900,000 per job created. This isn’t the change voters signed up for; it’s a corporate takeover that risks bankrupting the public while enriching the elite.

A Lobbyist Love-In: Big Business Writes Labour’s Playbook

An explosive openDemocracy investigation exposes the shocking access corporate giants have to Starmer and his frontbench. Over the past year, Labour’s top brass held hundreds of meetings with corporate lobbyists, financial institutions, and business groups – one every working day. The guest list reads like a corporate dream team: arms giant QinetiQ, mining titan Anglo American, City consultant Grant Thornton (with a staffer embedded in Starmer’s team), and Macquarie, an asset manager infamous for its predatory financial tactics. These aren’t casual chats; they’re strategic sessions that have left big business’s fingerprints all over Labour’s manifesto.

Rachel Reeves, Starmer’s Chancellor-in-waiting, has openly bragged that Labour’s policies bear the “fingerprints” of corporate Britain. From building new towns to green energy projects, health and social care reforms, and major infrastructure plans, Labour’s agenda was crafted hand-in-hand with the firms poised to profit. But this cosy relationship comes with a brutal cost. Mick McAteer, a former UK financial regulator, warns that Labour’s reliance on private finance will trigger a “massive transfer of wealth” from local communities to the City of London and global institutions over the next decade. The public will foot the bill while corporate profits soar.

Labour’s policy-making machine has been infiltrated by corporate secondees – essentially plants from finance and lobbying firms – who ensure their employers’ interests come first. OpenDemocracy’s reporting reveals how these insiders have embedded themselves in Labour’s ranks, turning the party into a mouthpiece for boardrooms rather than the ballot box.

The Think Tank Trap: Right-Wing Ideas, Labour’s Agenda

Labour’s ties to right-wing think tanks are equally damning. Policy Exchange, a Tory darling, counts QinetiQ, Anglo American, Grant Thornton, and Macquarie among its Business Forum members. This opaque outfit has long championed deregulation and pro-market policies, yet Labour’s leadership is happy to cosy up to its corporate backers. The Centre for Social Justice, founded by ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, has Stuart Roden – a former hedge fund boss worth £280m – on its board. Roden has poured over £430,000 into Labour since February last year, part of a wave of donations from ultra-wealthy financiers steering the party toward policies that safeguard their fortunes.

Then there’s Labour Together, a shadowy group masquerading as a “soft left” unifier but functioning as a vehicle for rich donors to shape Labour’s leadership. Since Starmer took over, Labour Together has raked in £4m, much of it from non-Labour tycoons eager to bankroll a business-friendly party. As Tribune magazine revealed, this is the remnants of New Labour’s wealthy backers, now joined by fresh corporate cash, working to lock Labour into a low-tax, pro-market mould. These think tanks aren’t just writing cheques – they’re writing Labour’s policies, from deregulation to tax breaks, ensuring the UK remains a playground for the 1%.

The Growth Gamble: Liz Truss in Labour Clothing

Labour’s economic vision hinges on a dangerous obsession with private sector-driven growth, eerily reminiscent of Liz Truss’s catastrophic tenure. With public spending increases off the table, Starmer and Reeves are banking on private investment to revive an economy gutted by Tory mismanagement. Reeves has enlisted financial titans from HSBC, Santander, and BlackRock to brainstorm ways to “kickstart” growth. But these firms aren’t philanthropists – they’ll demand sky-high returns, and ordinary people will pay the price.

This blind faith in corporate-led growth ignores a harsh truth: private firms prioritise profits, not public welfare. Labour’s manifesto promises new towns, green energy, and infrastructure upgrades, but its reliance on private finance means higher costs for consumers, weaker regulations, and profits siphoned offshore. Political commentators have noted the striking parallels to Truss’s ill-fated “mini-budget,” yet Labour’s staying quiet about the similarities. It’s a high-stakes gamble that risks plunging the UK deeper into inequality and economic chaos.

Zone Fever: A £64 Billion Corporate Carve-Up

The most alarming plank of Labour’s corporate agenda is its embrace of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Freeports: These are deregulated enclaves where corporations like BlackRock, Blackstone, Macquarie, Google, Exxon Mobil, and Uber are handed tax breaks, relaxed rules, and even governance powers. These zones, enabled by Brexit, are being rolled out across the UK, with Labour quietly sitting on the boards of consortia alongside these corporate giants. Licensed for 25 years, SEZs are projected to cost taxpayers a staggering £64 billion over their lifespan, with each job created costing an eye-watering £900,000.

This isn’t just about tax breaks, it’s about surrendering the UK’s sovereignty to predatory capitalists. SEZs contravene EU state aid rules, which bar governments from funnelling public money to select corporations. By doubling down on these zones, Labour is entrenching market distortions and torching any chance of rejoining the EU for the next 25 years. The £64 billion price tag – equivalent to funding the NHS for over six months – will be borne by taxpayers, while corporations enjoy a decade of tax-free profits and unprecedented control over local jurisdictions. At £900,000 per job, the economic benefits are dubious at best, with communities facing higher costs and eroded public services.

Brexit is the unspoken driver of this corporate coup, yet Labour refuses to touch the topic. SEZs are a direct consequence of the UK’s exit from the EU, unleashing a free-for-all where governance consultancies – some linked to Thatcher and Cameron – work hand-in-glove with Labour to privatise swathes of the country. The party’s spent years dodging the Brexit debate, but its complicity in this carve-up is undeniable. As Tribune warned, Labour’s proposals draw more from right-wing think tanks and asset managers than from the demands of workers and tenants.

The Housing Hoax: Corporate Profits, Not Affordable Homes

Labour’s housing plans epitomise its betrayal of the public. The party has pledged to tackle the housing crisis, but its proposals lean heavily on right-wing think tanks and asset managers like BlackRock and Cauldwell. Deregulation, not affordability, is the priority. Labour’s talk of new towns and planning reforms masks a grim reality: corporate profits will skyrocket while housing costs remain out of reach for most. The £64 billion poured into SEZs could fund millions of affordable homes, yet Labour’s prioritising tax breaks for property giants over the needs of struggling tenants.

This isn’t what voters wanted. After 14 years of Tory austerity, the public expected Labour to deliver bold, progressive change – not a rehash of policies that have widened the gap between rich and poor. Instead, Starmer’s party is serving up more pain, more privatisation, and a £64 billion bill for a corporate-led future.

The Verdict: Whose Labour Is This?

Keir Starmer’s Labour promised hope, but it’s delivering a corporate heist. Behind closed doors, the party has been hijacked by right-wing think tanks, corporate lobbyists, and mega-rich donors. From Policy Exchange to Labour Together, from BlackRock to Macquarie, the forces steering Labour’s agenda are the same ones driving decades of inequality. The UK is being privatised, carved into corporate-controlled zones, and sold off to the highest bidder – all for a £64 billion price tag that taxpayers will bear, at £900,000 per job.

This isn’t the Labour of the labour movement. It’s the Labour of the City, the hedge funds, and the boardrooms. As Starmer prepares to govern, the question looms: whose interests will his government serve? With £64 billion in public wealth on the line and corporate fingerprints all over Labour’s policies, the answer is clear – it won’t be the public’s. Working people, tenants, and communities deserve better than a party that’s traded its soul for corporate cash. The fight for a fairer Britain starts with exposing Labour’s betrayal and demanding a politics that puts people before profits.