Rachel Reeves’ Fiscal Fiasco: Billions for Corporate Freeports, Pennies for Public Services

The plan is to use State aid (public money) to subsidise the privatisation of the UK and install corporate governance in 86 free zones.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is fiddling while Britain’s public services burn. Her obsession with “fiscal discipline” and a so-called £22bn Tory “black hole” is starving the NHS, schools, and councils of cash. Meanwhile, she’s greenlighting billions in public money for corporate freeports and Special Economic Zones (SEZs)—schemes that fleece taxpayers and deliver peanuts. A recent Guardian article frets over a £5.1bn bill for 92,000 public sector jobs to fix productivity slumps, but mysteriously ignores the £19.78bn already squandered on freeports and SEZs.

Why the silence? Let’s unpack this scandal. Freeports: A Corporate Cash Grab

The government’s freeport and SEZ gamble was sold as “levelling up” for struggling regions like Teesside and Scotland’s Firth of Forth. Tax breaks, lax rules, and public cash were meant to lure businesses and create 80,000 jobs. Instead, we’ve got a measly 5,600 jobs across 12 freeports, with two-thirds just shifted from elsewhere—think musical chairs, not new opportunities. SEZs fare no better: 100,000 jobs since 2012, but 80% are displaced. Total new jobs? A pathetic 22,067.

The cost? A jaw-dropping £19.78bn by 2024—£896,246 per job. That’s 26 times the UK median salary of £34,963. Plans to blow £64bn by 2048 aim for 68,334 jobs at £936,693 each. Meanwhile, corporate giants like BlackRock, who’ve snapped up 80% of shares in 3 freeports Harwich, Felixstowe, and Thamesport, are laughing all the way to the bank. This isn’t levelling up; it’s corporate socialism on steroids.