Britain's new Labour Party government announced 63 billion pounds 82 billion in investment in U.K. artificial intelligence, life sciences, infrastructure and technology on Monday at a business summit attended by executives from major international companies - though it was the absence of Elon Musk that made headlines.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer 's center-left administration is eager to attract investment into Britain's sluggish economy and to convince corporations that its push to improve workers' rights won't come at the expense of businesses. It also needs to reassure trade unions, key Labour backers, that wooing business won't come at workers' expense.
Starmer told about 300 executives from banks, investment firms, pharmaceutical companies, tech and media firms and others that after several years of economic and political turmoil and "policy churn" under the Conservatives, Britain is once again a stable place for investors.
"This is the moment to back Britain," he said, pledging to oversee a "hard-headed" industrial strategy and "galvanize growth" by slashing unnecessary regulation, especially around planning.
"We will rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment," Starmer said.
