Boris Johnson tasks UK Chancellor with transforming country into “Singapore of Europe”

Singapore—Mr Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, has received a very specific mission from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Post-Brexit, Mr Sunak will be decreasing the amount of red tape that the other European nations have to contend with.

A full-page spread in the tabloid Daily Mail on Sunday (Jan 17)  read “Let’s make Britain the Singapore of Europe.”

A photo of the spread was shared by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin on his social media pages and has gone on to be widely shared.

Mr Tan wrote, “We aren’t perfect. There is still much that we can improve on and be better at. But we aren’t falling apart nor are we a failing state. There is much that we can be proud of and I for one am. Grateful to Singapore and Singaporeans for being who we are. Let’s keep going!!!”

Mr Sunak will be leading a new committee called the Better Regulation Committee.

It’s meant to determine the future of business after Brexit, spearheading “an ambitious programme of regulatory reform” that would “push the boundaries, boost creative thinking and inject pace at the centre of government”.

The Chancellor has promised that he will “emulate the dynamic Asian country by ripping up the red tape imposed by Brussels and ‘raising our eyes to look to the future,” wrote the Daily Mail.

The main idea being pushed by the UK is that it can be become a hub in the same way as Singapore, and in the process, draw investments away from other countries such as France and Germany.

The Better Regulation Committee, under Mr Sunak, will carry out the massive infrastructure initiatives that had been stalled by the EU, state of the art science and technology projects, as well as help small businesses badly affected by Covid-19,.

This is not the first time that Singapore has been held up an as example for the UK to follow after Brexit, due to the country’s low-regulation, low-tax economy.

According to the Chancellor, Brexit will lead to ‘Big Bang 2.0,’ a successor to the deregulation of the financial services industry that occurred during the Thatcher years, which brought about a fresh age of wealth creation.

Mr Sunak is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying, “Now that we have left the European Union, we have an opportunity to do things differently and this Government is committed to making the most of the freedoms that Brexit affords us.

This isn’t about lowering standards but about raising our eyes to look to the future – making the most of new sectors, new thinking and new ways of working.”

/TISG

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