King Charles, Sir Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan were on Monday wooing global business chiefs at an investment summit in London to attract billions of funds for major projects in Britain.
In his keynote speech at the conference in the City, the Prime Minister was making his “pitch for Britain” as he seeks to fire up the UK’s economic growth.
Mr Khan was stressing that “London and the UK are open for business, trade and investment”.
Business leaders will then be invited to a lavish reception at St Paul’s Cathedral attended by the King.
In his first 100 days in No10, Sir Keir’s government has been hit by a series of controversies including the freebies furore, the ousting of Sue Gray as his chief-of-staff, the Taylor Swift police escort and free tickets row, as well as the axing of winter fuel payments for all pensioners apart from those on pension credit.
The Government has pressed ahead with some key reforms in its election manifesto including renationalising the railways, planning reforms, and the shift to a green economy.
But the investment summit and October 30 Budget are seen as key for the Government to get on the front foot after the suprising number of controversies at the start of a premiership.
The London investment gathering got off to a shaky start when Dubai-based DP World threatened to pull out of the event where it was due to announce a £1 billion expansion of the London Gateway container port.
But it was angered by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh’s call to boycott one of its subsidiaries P&O Ferries which she branded a “rogue operator” in a row over firing and hiring workers.
No10 distanced itself from Ms Haigh’s remarks and DP World is attending the summit after getting “the clarity we need”.
At the summit, ministers are due to unveil billions of pounds worth of major investment deals in AI, life sciences and infrastructure.
With the Government’s plans to fix Britain’s crumbling public services relying heavily on ending years of miserly economic growth, Sir Keir stressed he would “do everything in my power to galvanise growth” including axing regulations holding back new homes, data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, trainlines and other projects.
Pledging to deliver economic stability after years of Tory chaos, he added: “We have a golden opportunity to use our mandate, to end chop and change, policy churn and sticking plasters that make it so hard for investors to assess the value of any proposition.”
Mr Khan said: “With a new government, we are reclaiming Britain’s reputation as a magnet for global investment – bringing with it new technology, new ways of thinking and, crucially, new jobs across our country, meaning higher living standards.”
But business chiefs are warning of the risk of damaging investment with decisions in the Budget, including some hikes on taxes.
The first event of the summit on Monday is at the Guildhall in the Square Mile, where top business executives will meet with ministers and regional leaders.
The Government will ask the Competition and Markets Authority to prioritise growth, investment, and innovation.
Speakers at the summt include, Ruth Porat chief investment officer of Alphabet, Alex Kendall chief executive of Wayve and Pushmeet Kohli, president of research at Google DeepMind.