Clearing the Way for Growth - the Lib Dem campaign to ‘axe 100 pieces of red tape’ and get Britain growing again

EMBARGO: 00:01 Monday 29th June 2026

Clearing the Way for Growth - the Lib Dem campaign to ‘axe 100 pieces of red tape’ and get Britain growing again

Liberal Democrat MP and spokesperson for Investment and Trade, Joshua Reynolds has today (29 June) launched a major campaign aimed at unleashing the potential of British businesses and supercharging economic growth - by cutting at least 100 pieces of red tape.

The “Clearing the Way for Growth” campaign will see Liberal Democrat MPs across the country hosting roundtable discussions with local SMEs and business leaders in their communities, to identify administrative and compliance burdens that are stifling growth.

The sessions will form the evidence base for Liberal Democrats to advocate practical  cost-saving measures that will have real-world impact for consumers and businesses – especially small and medium-sized firms.

The party said the aim of the campaign is to draw up 100 measures that would cut, consolidate and streamline regulations and reporting requirements, to unleash UK business growth, while safeguarding consumer protections, workers' rights and our ability to do business with our biggest trading partners in Europe.

Joshua Reynolds said the campaign is all about cutting bureaucratic deadweight that costs businesses time and money, not removing protections that matter.

The campaign launch comes a week after the Liberal Democrats announced bold plans to boost trade with Europe, including joining the Single Market and a customs union, to tear up paperwork and burdensome border checks.

Previous Liberal Democrat analysis based on research by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade found that Brexit has created nearly two billion extra pieces of paperwork for British businesses - enough to wrap around the world 15 times.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Investment and Trade, Joshua Reynolds MP said:

“Small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy and our biggest growth engine.

“It’s no wonder that economic growth has eluded both the current Labour and previous Conservative Governments, who hit our businesses with unfair tax rises and piled mountains of paperwork and red tape on them.

“British businesses are not struggling because they lack ambition or talent. They are struggling because the system keeps getting in the way. This campaign is all about changing that.

“The country needs to be enabling businesses to fill in orders and find more clients; instead the Government leaves them filling in forms and facing a maze of complex rules. This can’t go on and Liberal Democrats are driving that change.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The Liberal Democrat Clearing the Way for Growth webpage, which will go live on Monday June 29th, will be accessible via this link.

Coverage of previous Liberal Democrat analysis, based on research by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, can be found here.