Buckingham, UK — March 18th, 2026 — Shanker Singham, Chair of the Growth Commission and CEO of Competere, will speak at a major economic conference later this month examining how the United Kingdom can restore economic growth after years of stagnation.
Singham will appear at the conference “Mending Britain’s Broken Economy” on Monday 23 March 2026 at the Vinson Centre at the University of Buckingham. The one-day event is being co-hosted by the Growth Commission and the Institute of International Monetary Research and will bring together leading economists, policymakers and business leaders to debate solutions to Britain’s persistent growth challenge.
Singham will participate in the panel discussion “Supply Side Policy, Market Distortions and Regulatory Failure” from 12:10–13:10, alongside Greg Smith MP, Shadow Minister for Energy Security and Transport, and entrepreneur and investor Simon Dolan.
The panel will examine the role of regulatory policy, competition barriers and supply-side reform in determining the UK’s economic performance.
In his remarks, Singham is expected to address recent proposals for the United Kingdom to align its Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations with those of the European Union — an issue that has sparked growing debate about the future direction of UK trade and regulatory policy.
Recent analysis by Competere for the Growth Commission estimates that dynamic alignment with EU SPS rules could result in a £15 billion hit to the UK economy, while limiting Britain’s ability to pursue a more pro-competitive regulatory framework and negotiate trade agreements with key global partners.
Commenting on the issue recently, Singham said:
“Hardwiring EU SPS regulations into UK law would be a monumental act of self-harm that would be extremely difficult to reverse. With a pressing need to grow its economy, the last thing the UK should be doing is aligning with a regulatory system that has contributed to stagnant growth across much of Europe.
“So far the UK has avoided being subject to a Section 301 investigation initiated by the Trump Administration. The UK would be well advised to consider that moving forward with this realignment may cause the United States to rethink its position, as these new agricultural standards could undermine recently negotiated openings in the UK market for US food exports.”
Singham argues that the global trading system is increasingly characterised by two competing regulatory models. One is based on regulatory competition and mutual recognition, which allows countries to maintain different rules while recognising each other’s standards. The other requires harmonisation at the most restrictive level, a model commonly associated with the EU and China.
According to Singham, the UK’s economic success after Brexit will depend heavily on whether it embraces regulatory competition or moves back toward regulatory harmonisation.
“Having left the European Union, the UK has the opportunity to develop one of the most pro-competitive regulatory systems in the world,” Singham said. “Locking ourselves back into the EU’s regulatory framework would significantly restrict that opportunity as well as undermining the UK’s ability to pursue an ambitious global trade policy.”
Competere’s analysis of the impact of SPS alignment has generated significant national media attention in recent weeks, with coverage appearing in CapX, The Daily Telegraph, GB News, The Daily Express and The Sun, as well as discussion in the House of Lords.
The “Mending Britain’s Broken Economy” conference comes less than three weeks after the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and will provide an opportunity for leading economists to assess the state of the UK economy and debate policy reforms needed to restore growth.