Alexander Rose

A cartoon that shows lots of traffic in bridges with a caption “public investment” and a train running smoothly with the caption “wasteful subsidy”

By Andy Singer

Britain isn't broken We have our problems but the doomerism is getting out of hand

New post just out:

"Britain isn't broken"

We have our problems but the doomerism is getting out of hand.

I look at the real picture on crime, migration, social cohesion and the economy - rather than the dsyoptian fantasies of the radical right.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

Subsidy Control law protects the UK’s economy from inappropriate subsidies.

This case shines a light on a problem impacting the effectiveness of the regime.

The issue can be fixed by allowing the CMA to proactively investigate matters where it has concerns over Subsidy Control compliance.

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Councillors & the public are concerned.

However the Subsidy Control Act requires an ‘interested party’ to fund litigation to have a measure reviewed.

Interested parties will usually be competitors, but would a rival developer litigate when it may require approval from the Council in future?

5/6

Likewise a subsidy for restructuring a business in difficulty would also have to meet requirements in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 to be considered lawful (including, in all probability, CMA referral).

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The Council argues the £60m grant should be seen as a commercial transaction so treated as “no subsidy”.

That’s surprising. If this “restructuring” of the existing debt was treated as subsidy it would have to be referred to the Competition and Markets Authority for review.

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Councillors & the public are concerned.

However the Subsidy Control Act requires an ‘interested party’ to fund litigation to have a measure reviewed.

Interested parties will usually be competitors, but would a rival developer litigate when it may require approval from the Council in future?

5/6

Councillors & the public are concerned.

However the Subsidy Control Act requires an ‘interested party’ to fund litigation to have a measure reviewed.

Interested parties will usually be competitors, but will a rival developer ever litigate when they may need approval from the Council in future?

The beneficiary of the £60m grant is This Land Ltd, a development company owned by the County Council.

The company has £127m in loans payable to the County Council.

As Andrew Rowson of eastangliabylines.co.uk reports below, the County Council’s auditors KPMG have flagged financial concerns.

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A year before MPs debate the effectiveness of the UK’s Subsidy Control regime, a case has emerged raising serious questions about whether an enforcement body is needed.

The case involves Cambridgeshire County Council “restructuring” a £120m loan into a £60m grant.

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Surprised this story isn’t getting greater traction…

The US needs better laws to regulate subsidies - the Washington stadium deal is yet another example of this.

A $1.1bn taxpayer subsidy has been offered to create a 65,000 stadium.

Contrast that with the UK or EU where Subsidy Control / State aid laws stop such wasteful public funding.

Northern voters want greater devolution due to stories like this.

In 2021, Ministers in London secretly cancelled plans to dual part of the A1 in Northumberland & kept it from voters.

This was at a time when public funding for transport was £1,182 per Londoner but just £486 per Northerner.

Glad to see that they have been given substantial sentences, but the damage has been done & a treasured North East landmark has been lost.

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation - the Birth of a New Area of Competition Law - Lexxion In July 2023, the European Union introduced a new competition law regime called the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to address a longstanding regulatory

What is the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation?

The FSR allows the European Commission to investigate & take action against businesses which received subsidies outside the EU, where the activities of the business may now damage & distort the EU Single Market.

www.lexxion.eu/en/uksci/the...

The FIFA Club World Cup could be a source of embarrassment for the European Commission.

Qatari owned Paris St Germain are still under investigation under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (although there are reports the European Commission is trying to quietly drop La Liga’s complaint).

Airport subsidies are often challenged under EU State aid law.

The UK’s Subsidy Control regime is now being used to challenge an enormous £205m subsidy to Cardiff Airport.

An article on the case written with Jonathan Branton can be found at:

dwfgroup.com/en/news-and-... #News #SubsidyControl #Law

🚨 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐆𝐎! A major Subsidy Control case is about to be listed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal… 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 ✈️

You’re right to focus on this.

Adam Curtis has hit the nail on the head when he says politicians who seem authentic prosper, even if their authenticity is based on being opportunistic, eg Trump & Johnson.

The centre ground needs to show it is both authentic & competent.

Subsidy Control law aims to drive better decision making by public authorities when it comes to using taxpayer money to support businesses.

Therefore it’s pleasing to see this report stating the Treasury was blocked from offering an unlimited guarantee to the Post Office by the Subsidy Control Act.

I’m lucky enough to have worked on a few projects involving the #Space sector.

Today I’m at the North East Space Conference 2025 to learn more about this fast growing part of the economy - estimated to be worth £1.45 trillion in ten years' time….

#SpaceTech #Innovation #NEFollowers

Excellent conference - my main takeaway (so far) is that this is a very well attended conference, because (a) lots of businesses are already making steps into this sector (b) everyone wants to spot the next developments in this fast moving market (estimated to be worth £1.35 trillion in 10 years).

Major international crisis ‘much more likely’ in Trump’s second term, says his ex-national security adviser John Bolton delivers scathing critique of Trump’s lack of knowledge or coherent strategy: ‘I’m very worried’

Trump is a box office President.

His desire is to be front and centre of every news story.

It’s hard to constantly be the maverick on the domestic stage, so sooner or later he was always going to try to shape world affairs.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

And

Well… there’s this, for starters

I kept my X account in the expectation that this 🍿 moment would come…

Some breaking news for Subsidy Control practitioners - the government has revealed the date on which it plans to increase the referral threshold for subsidies to be reviewed by the CMA from £10m to £25m.

If you want to know more, visit - lnkd.in/eWBNfM_V.

Subsidy Control will be in the news this summer for two reasons:

1. this case will underline the importance of a credible evidence trail when making funding decisions; and

2. another (high profile) case is expected to be submitted to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the coming days…

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The reason for the haste in bringing the action was the Bulb case, in which an extraordinarily short delay was found to be unreasonable (before being overturned by a higher court, after the appeal in this case had been submitted.

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If tax becomes repayable will the Premier League check whether there was also a PSR breach in the year(s) the scheme was used?