At Davos, Rachel Reeves has finally had a sensible idea

The chancellor is pitching an image of Britain as a lone bastion of stability as she announces plans to fast-track visas and refund fees for high-growth companies expanding their UK footprint. It’s a rare and timely good idea from her, says James Moore

The World Economic Forum’s annual get-together for the rich, powerful and status hungry in Davos, Switzerland is one of the more remarkable events of the year. It is a wonder to me that the event doesn’t lead to accidents on the slopes many of the attendees head for afterwards since the amount of hot air vented can’t help the snow.

But something sensible is emerging from this year’s shindig – from Rachel Reeves. Yes, that Rachel Reeves. Let me explain. Reeves has announced plans to reimburse “certain visa fees”, while creating “fast-track processing for select international companies growing their UK footprint”.

Imagine a company: Unicorn LLC, let’s call it, with its whizzy new AI platform that has the tech-heads drooling. It will now in theory be able to bring in hotshot coders from, say, India, without some of the grief this causes the put-upon HR department.

I suspect refunding the fees will be seen as much less important than getting the paperwork through without the usual road bumps. If you’ve ever spoken to people from any sort of business about what it’s like dealing with the Home Office, you’ll see them go grey. If Reeves and the wider government can make this work that would be a thoroughly good thing. It may require someone having a quiet chat with home secretary Shabana Mahmood.

For the record, Mahmood is not part of the government branded “Team UK” delegation. But she did get a mention in the press release, which pledges to double the resourcing of the government’s “Global Talent Taskforce”.

Frequently lost in the increasingly toxic debate about immigration is that we absolutely should want skilled migrants to come here. We should welcome them. Roll out the red carpet, because they have the skills Britain has been struggling for years to encourage its own people to acquire. Many of those who get them are similarly in demand, and often quite fancy the idea of working somewhere else.

So this plan makes all sorts of sense. It’s also quite bold given the way that debate has been raging. “Britain is a haven of stability in an uncertain world as this government makes the UK the premier destination for global investment,” Reeves declared. There’s the traditional Davos bombast blasting hot air over the mountainside for you.

Hot air won’t cut it where the real business gets done. That CEO of our imaginary AI company might ask what Reeves thought she was doing taxing jobs to get out of the fiscal jam she found herself in by raising employer national insurance contributions. The UK won’t become the “destination of choice” for “select trailblazers in deep tech sectors” and those working in priority areas such as AI, life sciences and clean energy if bosses fear the chancellor is going to clobber them every time the Office for Budgetary Responsibility gets twitchy about the public finances. The ability to hustle in talent matters. But so does tax. That’s not a political point on my part. It’s a hard economic fact.

“In a volatile world Britain stands out. This government is making sure Britain is home to the stability, talent and capital that businesses and investors want and that drive greater growth,” Reeves declared. “Some countries give you a platform, but Britain gives you momentum. My message at Davos this week is clear: choose Britain – it’s the best place in the world to invest.”

I suspect she’ll be asked to prove it, by promising not to further mess around with business taxes, and getting Mahmood to breath some life into the dead hand of the Home Office.

But perhaps I’m being too cynical, because the statement of intent is welcome. We live in a world that looks more and more like a a nightmarish Matrix-style simulation. This, coming from Britain’s chancellor at Davos, only adds to that impression. But, unusually, I mean that in a good way.