Published: 14:39, October 22, 2026
UK chancellor to court entrepreneurs with cuts to regulation
By Bloomberg
This file photo shows John Healey at Downing Street, London, UK. (PHOTO/BLOOMBERG)

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey will aim his first budget later this month at “bloody-minded entrepreneurs” by cutting the cost of business, he said in an interview.

Healey told the Times newspaper he plans to cut regulations and “back business in Britain making a profit,” as he prepares to deliver his plan for the economy on October 28.

Part of that will include abolishing reporting requirements for smaller enterprises, the Times said, citing anonymous sources.

It comes after Healey ruled out a rise in the capital gains tax, and also decided not to push ahead with plans to create a new visa route for wealthy foreigners who want to live in the UK.

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“I want to be a chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit, and those entrepreneurs who, in the end, are the ones who challenge the status quo, come up with innovative ideas and are trying, some of them through sheer bloody-mindedness, to keep going through these sorts of pressures,” he told the Times.

Healey, who was previously defense secretary but was made chancellor when Andy Burnham became prime minister in July, said he wanted startups to grow and stay in the country. He acknowledged that changes to employment law, regulation and taxes — some of which have been put in place by the Labour government after it won the 2024 general election — had placed businesses under a “lot of pressure.”

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“When I talk about the cost of business, and recognizing that in the same way as we’re recognizing the cost of living pressures, I’m conscious of that as I go into the budget for both businesses and households,” he said.