British finance minister Rachel Reeves said the country's finances were now in order following her October budget, and her future instincts were for lower taxes and less regulation.
"Now we have wiped the slate clean," she said of the October budget today on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
"My instinct is to have lower taxes, less regulation, makeit easier for businesses to do business," she added.
UK finance minister, asked about Heathrow expansion, says growth is her priority
British Prime Minister Rachel Reeves gave her biggest indication yet that she would support expanding London's Heathrow hub, saying driving economic growth was the government's priority in answer to aquestion about airport expansion.
"When we say that growth is the number one mission of this government, we mean it, and that means it trumps other things," she told a Bloomberg event at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos today.
Britain's problem in the past had been rejecting newinfrastructure, she said.
"The answer can't always be no," she said, highlighting past decisions on not building pylons, airports and housing.
Heathrow, Britain and Europe's busiest airport, has for decades wanted to build a new runway to grow trade and boost tourism, but the plan is currently on ice following the Covid pandemic and multiple environmental challenges.
But according to media reports, Reeves is expected to give Heathrow's expansion the green light when she makes a speech next week setting out more detailed plans to grow the economy.
Any move to increase flying is likely to prompt opposition from environmentalists over worries about the impact of aviation emissions on climate change.
Reeves said she would not comment on speculation about her speech next week.
Separately, Britain's second largest airport Gatwick is waiting for the government to say whether or not it is allowed to expand to add tens of millions of extra passengers each year.
A decision is expected by the end of February.
UK ousted antitrust chair over lack of focus on growth
Rachel Reeves also said today that Britain forced out the chair of its antitrust regulator because he was not focused enough on the UK government's drive to boost economic growth.
Marcus Bokkerink was replaced last night by the former Amazon executive Doug Gurr on an interim basis, the government said, adding that he would bring a wealth of experience in tech.
Reeves demanded the Competition and Markets Authority and other British regulators "tear down the barriers hindering businesses and refocus their efforts on promoting growth" in a meeting last week.
She said today that Bokkerink had stepped down after recognising that the CMA needed to be headed up by someone who shared the government's "strategic direction".
"He recognised it was time for him to move on and make way for somebody who does share the mission and the strategic direction that this government are taking," she told a Bloomberg event at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.
In October, the CMA was singled out by Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer when he promised to scrap regulation that was holding back growth.
The regulator said the following month that it would focus on "truly problematic mergers" and rethink its approach to remedies that could allow more deals to go ahead to support the UK government's growth mission.
However, its new approach did not go far enough for the government.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: "We want to see regulators including the CMA supercharging the economy with pro-business decisions that will drive prosperity and growth, putting more money in people's pockets."
Gurr's appointment comes after the CMA stepped up its scrutiny of Big Tech by establishing its Digital Markets Unit.
The unit, which gained new powers this month, is tasked with ensuring that the biggest tech companies, such as Amazon.com, Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms, Apple and Microsoft, do not abuse their dominant market positions.
