Cutting Through Red Tape | IEA Podcast

On this episode of the IEA Podcast, Matthew Lesh, Public Policy & Communications Director, is joined by Tom Clougherty, Executive Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, to discuss the government's recent announcement on efforts to slash red tape.
This week's question: Is the government finally deregulating?
Tom shares his insights on the government's 10-point plan to cut regulation, including measures like issuing new regulations only when "absolutely necessary" and imposing stronger growth duties on regulators. While praising these efforts as steps in the right direction, he argues they fall short of fundamentally reshaping the regulatory landscape.
The conversation delves into the origins of Britain's modern regulatory state, the role of institutions and incentives in driving regulation, and the cultural shift needed to truly embrace deregulation. Tom emphasises the need for structural changes, such as mandatory sunset clauses and a senior government figure responsible for regulatory liberalisation, to counterbalance the institutional pressures that often lead to over-regulation.
0:00 Intro
1:12 Assessing the government's deregulation efforts
5:48 Origins of Britain's modern regulatory state
10:22 Problems with regulatory impact assessments
14:10 Need for a regulatory register/database
17:15 Improving regulation at the early stages
20:20 Drawbacks of dropping regulatory budgeting
24:15 Structural solutions like sunset clauses
28:15 Changing the culture and mindset around regulation
32:10 Societal attitudes towards risk and precaution
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[@advocate1563]

Too late for us. We took ourselves + biz elsewhere. And regulation was one of the key factors. We realised we'd become form fillers in our 15 years running the company. The increase during the Tory regime was astonishing.

[@advocate1563]

Seems unlikely. Too late for us. We offshored ourselves and our business - one reason tax and the other regulation. We realised we were simply filling in paperwork rather than developing the topline. Too depressing.