IoD Weekly Policy Report 8 – 12 May 2023

The REUL Bill dethroned – A royal week for the UK, and meanwhile a REUL week for the IoD. The government has announced it is amending the Retained EU Law Bill to provide business with more certainty, with a bespoke approach to which laws will be revoked rather than having a blanket sunset clause for all remaining EU-derived legislation at the end of the year. We’re pleased, since we’ve advocated all along that the speed at which government was attempting to review retained EU law was a recipe for bad law making, and created regulatory uncertainty for business. Here’s our full response.

Peaking interest – the Bank of England has made the decision to increase interest rates for the 12th month in a row. This comes in response to continued high inflation, which is currently 10.1%. Our Chief Economist has joined The Times shadow monetary policy committee to share IoD expertise on the matter. Find our pontification here, and coverage in the Times here.

Trade and cooperation? – We participated in an evidence session with the Conservative European Forum to discuss the impact the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which governs the trading relationship between the UK and the EU, is having on business. In our members’ experience, the TCA has presented numerous frictions for importers and exporters across the border. We recently gave government some ideas as to how to reduce these barriers, which you can read here.

Not quite yet marching on – ONS data showed the economy grew by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023, but a contraction of 0.3% in the month of March. Here’s our full analysis.

Policy Voice – Our latest Policy Voice survey is live. Last month, your views and input were hugely influential in driving the policy change on the Retained EU Law Bill, and we’re hoping that this month’s data will similarly impactful. We are asking our members whether they think the UK should create an industrial strategy, how they deal with geopolitical tensions, for input on a government consultation on carbon regulation, and our usual tracker questions on the level of economic confidence.

Next week watch out for…

Tuesday 16 May

• The ONS will publish UK labour market statistics for May 2023
• Members can join our Spring Economic Update with the Bank of England and our Chief Economist Kitty Ussher.