Labour ministers have ousted the chairman of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Rachel Reeves demanded that regulators “tear down” red tape.
Marcus Bokkerink’s departure from the watchdog was announced by the Department for Business & Trade last night after it deemed that the organisation was not sufficiently focused on growth.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds thanked Bokkerink for his time at the watchdog, saying: “We want to see regulators including the CMA supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions.”
Doug Gurr – who used to work for Amazon UK and is a director of the Natural History Museum – has taken on the role in the interim.
Rachel Reeves instructed top bosses of railways, water, energy and aviation firms to “tear down regulatory barriers that hold back economic growth”
PA
Labour is currently pushing authorities to support its economic agenda on growth, sparking concerns surrounding the consequential effect on industry standards and consumers.
Reeves instructed top bosses of railways, water, energy and aviation firms to “tear down regulatory barriers that hold back economic growth” at a joint meeting hosted by the Labour Chancellor and Business Secretary last week.
It followed previous instructions from the pair that the regulators must bring forward a list of reforms to support growth and the Government – 17 of which would be subsequently scrutinised by ministers.
Labour has said that regulators must work towards developing environments that “unlock innovation and investment”.
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Bokkerink – who used to work for Boston Consulting Group – wrote to the Government last week to inform them that the CMA was “fully supportive of the government’s focus on driving economic growth and stands with you in this critical shared endeavour”, setting out five proposals.
Nevertheless, business leaders have complained that the body has been too interventionist, as it previously came under fire for its handling of Microfsoft’s $69billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The deal was later approved after the CMA blocked it at first, leading to a 21-month-long process.
More recently, the CMA started an investigation into the search and search advertising markets last week, producing a report that quoted a Government official saying that the body’s “performance has not been good enough”.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds thanked Bokkerink for his time at the watchdog
PA
There was also some “frustration about this across the board from business”, according to the same source.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “I would like to thank Marcus for his leadership and support over the last two years.
“The CMA has a critical role to play supporting the government’s growth mission.
“I welcome the appointment of Doug Gurr as the CMA’s new interim chair and look forward to working closely with him as we drive growth, opportunity and prosperity for the UK.”