Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour government is celebrating a \u00a3150bn investment deal with the US:<\/p>\n
Labour is backing British brilliance.<\/p>\n
Major US investment flowing into clean energy, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing means more good, high quality jobs for people across the country.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Labour Party (@UKLabour) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Not everyone is celebrating, however, with some describing the deal as a means for US companies to asset strip British wealth:<\/p>\n Beautifully put. It shows the madness at the heart of the UK\u2019s economic plan. We do not need money from the US. This merely transfers ownership of assets to the US. The absolute worst approach for an economy that should instead be focusing on creating a resilient economy. pic.twitter.com\/cOxs6f8B16<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 William Thomson (@Williamgallus) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Starmer meets vulture capitalism<\/p>\n Regarding Labour\u2019s \u00a3150bn deal, the BBC has reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n The vast majority of the \u00a3150bn investment \u2013 \u00a390bn \u2013 will come from Blackstone over the next decade, although how most of this money will be spent has yet to be decided. The US private equity firm announced in June it would spend \u00a3370bn across Europe over 10 years.<\/p>\n As noted by openDemocracy<\/a>, private equity firms like Blackstone are often referred to as \u2018vulture capitalists\u2019. These firms use cheap credit to buy businesses, giving them access to said business\u2019s assets. This generally leads to mass layoffs and the sell-off of company resources, i.e. \u2018asset stripping\u2019.<\/p>\n In an article covering \u2018vulture capitalism\u2019, Peadar O\u2019Cearnaigh wrote for the\u00a0Canary:<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, the problem of vulture capitalism isn\u2019t confined to Ireland. Their \u201cpredatory investment practices\u201d have targeted several countries in financial difficulty. And before coronavirus (Covid-19) had spread across the globe, they\u2019d amassed trillions of dollars in a \u201cwar chest\u201d waiting for their next opportunity to exploit.<\/p>\n Companies such as Blackstone bought up homes in the US as families couldn\u2019t afford to pay their mortgages. Additionally, austerity policies by right-wing European governments meant cities like Madrid sold off their social housing for next to nothing to these giants. And in the midst of the pandemic, companies such as Axa and QuadReal Property spent more than \u00a31bn buying \u201cmore than 2,500 homes in the UK alone\u201d.<\/p>\n In an article from July 2024, openDemocracy<\/a> reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n Labour\u2019s frontbench team, including Siddiq, has met with City lobbyists on more than 20 occasions in the past year \u2013 not counting its significant engagement with the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, which openDemocracy revealed last month. BlackRock, Macquarie, HSBC, Bloomberg, Lloyds, Brookfield Asset Management and Blackstone are among firms to have secured access to leading members of the new government, including Starmer, Reeves, Reynolds and the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden.<\/p>\n The \u00a3150bn deal will include US tech companies. The involvement of these businesses has drawn additional criticism, especially as it\u2019s commonly believed these companies are heavily over-valued<\/a>, putting the world at risk of a Dotcom Bubble-type financial event:<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear from the Windsor banquet guest list that the real purpose of Trump\u2019s \u201chistoric\u201d state visit is to invite US finance and tech CEOs to asset-strip anything here in the UK that isn\u2019t nailed down pic.twitter.com\/6b4IMwWTnI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nicholas Guyatt (@NicholasGuyatt) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Those warning of a bubble include ChatGPT\u2019s Sam Altman:<\/p>\n OMG \u2014 Sam Altman @sama<\/a> just said the quiet part out loudhttps:\/\/t.co\/FvhApPB9ON<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Tbk9fZ4wIy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Taggart (@menlobear) August 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n A high price<\/p>\n Economist Richard J Murphy is one person who criticised Labour\u2019s announcement:<\/p>\n Starmer saying we are (or, at least, he is) utterly dependent on the US. I might just have found a reason to say I want my country back. https:\/\/t.co\/9eqCtIm9mA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n He also put this to Starmer:<\/p>\n You secured 7,600 jobs at a cost of \u00a319.7 million per job with massive profit flows going straight back from the UK to US as a result. And you failed free speech whilst supporting a fascist, who you called your friend. The only question left to ask is why anyone might still vote\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) September 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Murphy expanded on this at Funding the Future:<\/a><\/p>\n These must be the most expensively bought jobs in history.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put this in context. At the \u00a337,000 median wage the return to the UK will be \u00a3281 million a year<\/p>\n Now suppose a rate of return of at least 8% on this investment, or \u00a312,000 million (\u00a312 billion)per annum.<\/p>\n Knock off the wages, and quintuple them for overheads and multipliers , and where is the remaining \u00a310.5 billion or so going? Straight back to the US, I suspect.<\/p>\n Starmer has been well and truly shafted.<\/p>\n Those criticising the deal include Labour MP Clive Lewis:<\/p>\n Nothing screams \u201cMandelson-brokered deal\u201d like auctioning off our values to BlackRock & Palantir for \u00a3150bn and a handshake with Trump.<\/p>\n If investment comes at the price of our values, it\u2019s not a bargain. \u2014 Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Featured image via Number 10<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
It\u2019s a bribe. pic.twitter.com\/CNVwvm4c9f<\/a><\/p>\n