“The idea that we should have a sales force around the world helping business is never really that effective,” he told POLITICO.
He added that businesses really want “low tax, easy employment rules and well-designed fluid regulations,” adding that the “idea that the government can somehow ‘do business’ is nuts and is all that’s wrong with the world today.”
Trade veteran David Henig, a former government adviser now at the European Center for International Political Economy said he “would expect this to be taking a lot of staff time and energy.”
“Obviously fewer numbers may mean choices in what to prioritize,” he said. “I do think this government has undervalued the role of DBT, [as] implementing the trade and industrial strategies are crucial to U.K. growth.”
A government spokesperson confirmed it plans to “reduce the department in size.” While “no department-wide recruitment freeze has been put in place, the changes are designed to maximize [its] efficiency, ensuring [they] have the right expertise in the right place, while also delivering for British business,” they added.
The spokesperson said Chancellor Rachel Reeves had allocated £150 million to fund an employee exit scheme supporting “a leaner and more efficient civil service, helping to reduce [Whitehall-wide] administration costs by 15 percent by the end of the decade.”