As the year 2025 draws to a close, a significant shift is underway within Keir Starmer's government, with its much-vaunted 'five missions' being quietly sidelined in favour of a singular focus on economic growth. According to Joe Hill, policy director at the think tank Re:State, this strategic pivot must now be followed by concrete action, starting with the removal of policies like the impending Employment Rights Bill that could hinder recovery.
The Quiet Demise of the Five Missions
Elected on a platform of transformative change, Prime Minister Keir Starmer entered Downing Street 18 months ago championing five core missions: safer streets, cleaner energy, greater opportunities, a healthier society, and higher growth. He described each as a "single necessary step on a longer journey." However, with limited progress to show, the government's language has notably changed.
The overarching 'mission-driven' approach has been adapted, now frequently condensed in major speeches to "the defining mission of this government… to grow the economy." This reframing effectively diminishes the prominence of the other four objectives. This retreat is part of a broader pattern, following the dropping or dilution of other headline policies on welfare reform, planning, and a commitment not to raise taxes on working people.
Why Growth is the Only Game in Town
The government's intensified focus on growth is born of stark economic reality. Despite growth-boosting measures announced in the Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) did not deem any impactful enough to revise its forecasts upward; in fact, it revised growth estimates down. This signals that rising prosperity is not imminent.
Hill argues that a stronger economy is the essential foundation for funding other priorities, from defence to the energy transition. The initial mission-driven model, advocated by some, relied on significant borrowing to finance large public 'investments.' However, facing the risk of a bond market crisis, the government has discovered that lenders are unwilling to fund what are often perceived as mere giveaways. The concept, he suggests, has collided with the hard realities of governing.
A New Year's Policy Resolution: Prioritise Growth
With growth established as the paramount objective, Hill contends the government must ruthlessly assess its entire policy programme. He proposes a clear New Year's resolution: cut taxes. Specifically, he targets Stamp Duty as a poorly designed tax that stifles housing market mobility and should be reformed in future budgets.
More urgently, he calls for the Employment Rights Bill to be removed from the legislative programme. He warns that undermining the flexibility of the British labour market, a key factor in the post-financial crisis recovery, would make it riskier for businesses to hire and directly threaten growth.
On housing, while supporting the push to build more, Hill questions why the government persists with a Planning and Infrastructure Bill he believes will be "dead on arrival." He advocates for more permissive planning systems and rolling back the previous government's Building Safety Regulator, which he blames for halting new development in London.
Further progress could be made, he adds, by delivering on the target to cut regulatory costs for businesses by 25%—a goal with little visible progress six months after its announcement. The current direction, with new regulatory burdens, is taking the government "backwards not forwards."
As the UK rings in 2026, the message from this analysis is clear: if growth is to be more than a slogan, it must dictate policy choices. The Christmas wish for the coming year is that the government fully grasps this imperative and acts accordingly.
