Keir Starmer’s Labour landslide has heralded in a new era of quangoism in British politics.
The Prime Minister’s National Violent Disorder Unit, announced at a press conference on Thursday, adds to a long list of new national units, programmes and regulators already promised in Labour’s manifesto.
The government now has plans to introduce as many as twenty-six public bodies with influence over swathes of policy and daily life.
The National Violent Disorder Unit will be established after the deadly stabbing attack in Southport triggered violent unrest in the town, as well as in London and Hartlepool. Starmer said that the “national capability” will “pull together” intelligence gathering and sharing across the country’s police forces, with the aim of better countering all forms of violent unrest.
The unit will also consider how facial recognition technology can be deployed more widely throughout the country.
Starmer’s latest policing body joins an already large number of public agencies that his manifesto promised to set-up once in office. Many of these received significant attention during the general election campaign, such as Great British Energy, one of Labour’s “first steps for change.” It will be a “publicly-owned clean power company” to support energy bills and security.
Another high-profile quango joining the British political bureaucracy will be the Border Security Command. Much lauded by Yvette Cooper, it will replace the Rwanda plan as Labour’s solution to “smash the criminal boat gangs,” with new criminal investigators and counter-terror powers.
Labour also plans to introduce an independent football regulator to “ensure financial sustainability of football clubs in England.”
The Labour manifesto promises other, more obscure public bodies to address policy challenges. Starmer is hoping to launch a National Music Education Network, described as a “one-stop shop with information on courses and classes for parents, teachers and children.”
The regulator to regulate regulators, the Prime Minister wants to introduce a new Regulator Innovation Office. The office “will help regulators update regulation,” when it comes to improving innovation in the “development of new technologies” that will improve growth and productivity in the economy.
The former Brexit negotiator and Conservative Lord David Frost warned that Starmer was erecting a “technocratic quango state,” while Starmer has made clear that he believes his plan will “begin the work of national renewal,” that the country called for in the landslide Labour victory in July.
Here is the full list of quangos that the Labour has promised to introduce:
