| The prime minister has taken to talking about "two sides of the same coin" a lot recently – it's possible to go for growth while doing so in a way that's good for workers, is his point. But two sides of the same coin are hard to see at the same time and today some of that difficulty was on show as the PM implored the world's global investment elite to back Britain while some of that same community worried about rising taxes. This was on show too in the PM's interview with Bloomberg's Stephanie Flanders at the summit (as was "two sides of the same coin"). He was at pains to talk about growth but let slip that reports of capital gains tax going up in the budget to 39% was "getting to be wide of the mark." For some there will be relief that CGT is not going up as high as 39%, whereas for others it's confirmation it really is going up, just not that high. We must wait 16 days until the budget to find out but it feels like Stephanie got the strongest confirmation yet of how capital gains will be taxed. Before budgets, the chancellor of the Exchequer used to go to into purdah. There'll be those in Downing Street wishing the PM had done that. The main point Starmer wanted to make to Stephanie was that the titans of industry he had been rubbing shoulders with that morning had not wanted to talk to him about tax but actually about how he would free up planning and the other supply side reforms Labour has pledged. His opening speech was against the deepest rose red the set-makers could come up with, but peeking out above this, as the PM held his arms out wide, was the stain glass of the Guildhall. This may have been Labour's first investment summit but it was Starmer at his most evangelical; France and Germany wrestling with the politics of the far right, and — in the case of France — putting up taxes significantly on the wealthy, but Starmer's is a welcoming pro-wealth mission. Except his opening gambit struck a slightly odd tone – saying he would rip up red tape for business, even though the previous week he had announced a new package of regulations on business (albeit slightly different regs) to protect workers. That quibble aside, as a standalone event, the atmosphere emanating from the Square Mile today – gloriously embodied in this photo of Larry Fink and Angela Rayner having a good old laugh together — was much more unambiguously pro-business than the run up had been.  Larry Fink, left, and Angela Rayner during the International Investment Summit at the Guildhall in London on Oct. 14. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg Indeed, to underscore this, the government re-released news it will back a £1 billion investment in extending the runway at Stansted. Because this seemingly runs contra to its environmental shibboleths, perhaps Labour hopes it shows business they mean business. It was even fronted up by the enfant terrible of the summit — Transport Secretary Louise Haigh — who seemed to have got with the program uber swiftly (a few days earlier it had been her forthright comments on DP World that threatened to hole the summit beneath the waterline). Today, Haigh explained that Stansted's expansion will be OK because they are building a solar farm too. This is the sort of announcement the previous Conservative government could only dream of making, and big business will be pleased. But if big business (by which we mean the biggest of business) enjoyed today, what about smaller businesses? Cabinet ministers are letting take hold the idea that they are to increase national insurance contributions on employers. Today Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that if they did so, the government would be in "straightforward breach" of its manifesto. This comes on top of employers warning that last week's employment rights bill made it "riskier and more expensive" to hire staff. Elsewhere, fintech is also asking the government for more support. Our reporter Aisha Gani found executives at some of the UK's fastest growing tech firms warning the government their sector could fall behind if they didn't get more targeted support. Talent is heading to the continent and capital markets remain deeper in the US. Nonetheless, as much as £63 billion has been pledged for investment during the Guildhall jamboree, according to the government's spin doctors. All in, it was a better day for Starmer after his run of nearly 100 less than optimal ones. He'll want to keep on going up from this summit. Want this in your inbox each weekday? You can sign up here. | 
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