The most high-profile billionaire Labour party donor has revealed he is “increasingly nervous” about the direction Keir Starmer’s government is taking.
John Caudwell – who switched allegiance from the Tories – also hit out at Labour’s winter fuel payments cut “fiasco” as well as the welfare rebellion, declaring that the party has done a bad job at telling the right story to the electorate.
The Phones 4u founder – who has a fortune of £1.58bn but has promised to give away more than 70 per cent of it – warned a wealth tax would be “very destructive” to growth, as he called on ministers to do more to bring investment into the UK.
The 72-year-old’s comments come as Sir Keir is reportedly facing another rebellion from his backbenchers over reforms to support for children with special needs in England, just days after he was forced into the humiliating climbdown on benefit cuts.
Mr Caudwell was previously a Tory backer for many years, donating £500,000 to the Conservatives ahead of the 2019 general election, making him one of the party’s biggest donors. But for last year’s election, he pledged to vote Labour for the time ever.
However, Mr Caudwell has now said he is in “despair of politicians”, The Guardian reported.
And despite being a prominent Brexit supporter, he said the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis is the reason he could never support Reform UK.
He also called on Labour to do more on net zero, describing schemes such as Great British Energy as “lacking in ambition”, although he welcomed green energy plans that the party has implemented.
He added that, despite his background in mobile phones, he fears social media and AI are a “disaster” for anxiety and said he is worried for a future in which AI fakes become the norm.
Speaking of Sir Keir’s party, the businessman said: “They’re just going to be tossed from pillar to post, that’s how it feels. I am becoming increasingly nervous about what Labour are doing and especially when they get into this mess over the welfare bill because it feels as though there’s anarchy within the party.”
However, he did say he welcomed some key changes from Labour, citing pension funds reform and planning changes.
Speaking during the launch of a report from his charity Caudwell Youth, he continued: “There seems to be a lack of that commercial intellect that we desperately need in government to make long-term right decisions…
“I despair of politicians in general. You’ve got to attract inward investment to create high-paid jobs and in technology, sciences and especially in the environment, since that’s going to be the absolute future of mankind.
“There’s so much we need to do and there’s so little we do, and that was the Conservative party before and now it’s the Labour party.”
However, he insisted he did not regret switching allegiance.
Mr Caudwell called on Sir Keir to be bolder in his second year leading the country. “I’d be a bit like a [version of] Trump who’s smart and who’s humanitarian,” he said. “And I’d force things through. You wouldn’t do any of the same things [as Trump], but it is what we need.”
However, he raised concerns that Nigel Farage would be “too much of a Trumpite” if he ever became prime minister. Mr Caudwell said: “That would not be healthy for Britain at all. But a lot of what he says makes a lot of sense to me. He’s able to talk very directly to people’s concerns.”
