Fair play: how competition policy can drive growth
Think tank: IPPR
Author(s): Dr George Dibb; Tommaso Valletti
May 15, 2025
This report from UK think tank IPPR sets out the case for an unwavering and robust competition policy, enforced by a more responsive regulator.
The UK’s competition framework — and its regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority — has struggled to prevent rising market concentration and stagnant productivity. At the same time, the UK economy is suffering from chronic low investment, and firms have increasingly cited uncertainty around competition enforcement as an issue. While competition policy has historically been framed as a technocratic tool, it is in fact a cornerstone of shared, equitable growth.
The CMA has a huge role in ensuring markets work for citizens, workers, startups, and wider prosperity, not just dominant incumbents. The Labour government must seize this moment to redefine competition policy as a proactive force for economic renewal, aligning it with missions to boost productivity, rebalance regional disparities, and safeguard democratic accountability.
In this briefing paper we set out the case for an unwavering and robust competition policy, enforced by a more responsive regulator, which works to boost inward UK investment, aligned to industrial and trade policy goals.
