Why cricket balls in Yorkshire signify Sir Keir Starmer's plan to take on 'watchdog state'

The Prime Minister spoke of his desire to cut red tape holding back housing developers and businesses, and signalled he wanted to reverse a sense among politicians “that we don’t trust ourselves” to take decisions, as he set out plans to reform public services.

Speaking during a visit to consumer goods company Reckitt in Hull, the Prime Minister said the unstable nature of global events like the war in Ukraine was having a greater impact than ever on Britain – which made it important to reform public services.

“We’ve created a watchdog state completely out of whack with the priorities of the British people and that is unfit for the volatile and insecure world we live in,” he said.

Sir Keir Starmer gave examples of what he called a “cottage industry of checkers and blockers” within the state who were frustrating the Government’s mandate.

The Prime Minister pointed to his plans to build 1.5 million homes, telling an audience in Hull that “some parts of the state haven’t got the memo”.

He added: “I’ll give you an example. There’s a office conversion in Bingley, which as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.

“But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls.

“That’s 139 homes. Now, just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes, to buy those homes to make their life and now they’re held up. Why?

“You’ll decide whether this is a good reason – because I’m going to quote, this is the the reason – because the ‘ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to be an undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant’.”

He also pointed to halted plans to build homes in Ebbsfleet, Kent, complaining of “jumping spiders stopping an entire new town”.

Sir Keir said there was a “good faith” tendency to introduce new regulation or checks following crises, but claimed “no end of agencies and arms-length bodies” had now “accumulated over the years”.

One arms-length body, NHS England, will be abolished to reduce duplication within the health service, the Prime Minister announced during his speech.

He added: “Most importantly, and crucially for me, the power of Parliament, of Government, has gone because we’ve sort of taken power away from Government, almost a sense that we don’t trust ourselves to take the decisions.

We should trust ourselves to take those decisions, take those decisions, get on with it. We’ll be held to account. We’ve said what we want to achieve by the next election. I know I’ll be judged against that, and rightly so.”