It is patently clear that if the MSM gave as much attention to Palantir and Blackrock's incursions into the public sector, and the duopoly's nationwide rollout of deregulated free zones as much as they give to Nigel Farage and immigration, we would be seeing outrage directed at these actual seismic issues that are secretly changing Britain into an authoritarian state under a right-wing corporate political model.

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1974732012532510909

Blackrock have 677 registered entities at Companies House UK, possibly more, many of the addresses are from the Cayman Islands. Blackrock has 80% ownership in 3 British Freeports, Felixtowe, Harwich, and Thamesport, they are moving into critical public infrastructure.
Blackrock also has 4.7% shares in Palantir.
Palantir have 24 contracts with key UK public institutions, the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the polices forces, the Cabinet Office, the DLUHC, and Coventry City Council whose contract is the 24th and was arranged by Keir Starmer this year.
The UK is being privatised.
…te.company-information.service.gov.uk/search?q=Black…


Starmer's enthusiastic partnership announcement suggests policy capture at the highest levels. This isn't ordinary foreign investment; it's a systematic acquisition of control over the infrastructure backbone of the UK's economy by one the most criminally corrupt shadow banks in the world.

In June 2025, the Starmer government released the Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which consolidates the Tories' 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs with Labour's new AI Growth Zones (200 applications to date), Defence Growth Zones, University and Food Enterprise Zones.
This represents a fundamental shift toward privatisation across the UK.
Areas outside these designated zones simply cannot compete as millions in public funding is lavished on free zone applicants.
Neither the public nor the Press were consulted about these details due to secondary legislation being embedded in the Tories free zone policy, which Labour lapped up behind the scenes while signing off on these carve-outs. Keir Starmer’s AI Growth Zones, layered atop 86 deregulated free zones (12 Freeports, 74 SEZs), are wiring the UK into a techno-feudal fiefdom, fueled by Bitcoin’s environmental carnage, automation, and corporate land grabs costing £19.78 billion, with £64 billion more pledged.
These dedicated AI Growth Zones (200 bids on sites so far) are designed to speed up planning permission and provide energy connections needed for AI infrastructure.
gov.uk/government/pub…
Bitcoin’s energy-guzzling mining, water-intensive infrastructure, and lithium extraction threaten landscapes like Dartmoor, while tech lords like BlackRock, Palantir, and libertarian ideologues, Peter Thiel, Nigel Farage, and Balaji Srinivasan, carve nations into corporate sovereignties. This is end-times fascism: billionaires bunkering down in deregulated enclaves, ravaging the planet, and dismantling governments.
The Public Knows Nothing, and The Stakes, Economic, Democratic, and Environmental, are Existential.
europeanpowell.substack.com/p/the-genius-a…

You need to see what Blackrock are doing with Global Infrastructure Partners in the US.
They are taking public companies that provide critical infrastructure such as water, electricity, data centres, food markets, logistics, land, schools and hospitals, and farmland.
Keir Starmer’s govt has partnered with Blackrock (and Blackstone) plus 700 more corporate lobbyists).
It means the commons is up for grabs and your bills will skyrocket, this is how corporations monopolize critical public infrastructure.
Blackrock in partnership with Keir Starmer’s changed Labour Party are going to privatise the UK.
Watch the video
m.youtube.com/watch?v=uwTxjZ… x.com/europeanpowell… x.com/europeanpowell…

Peter Thiel funded Próspera.
Próspera is currently suing the Honduran Govt for $11 billion via an ISDS mechanism because their ZEDE/charter city was shut down by the Honduran Supreme Court.
The ISDS mechanism allows foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and take disputes directly to international arbitration panels, which is exactly what Próspera is doing in this case. This has become a significant point of controversy, as critics argue it allows foreign companies to challenge sovereign democratic decisions through international tribunals.
The equivalent ISDS mechanism is the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), this is embedded in all UK free zones.
substack.com/@europeanpowel…
Próspera is backed by multiple investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen, through the venture capital firm Pronomos Capital. Próspera - was founded by Patri Friedman (grandson of Milton Friedman) with seed funding from Thiel.
substack.com/@europeanpowel…
A Startup Linked to Peter Thiel Wants to Build the "Next Great City" in Greenland, and Pronomos Capital has raised at least $13.3 million from free-market evangelists including Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.
Palantir was co-founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp has 24 contracts with key UK public institutions, including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the police force, the Cabinet Office, the DLUHC, and Coventry City Council.
Louis Mosely is the head of Palantir UK, he is the grandson of British fascist Oswald Mosely.
substack.com/@europeanpowel…
Keir Starmer set up the 24th contract with Palantir for Coventry City Council (@zarahsultana 's constituency.
Palantir with Keir Starmer will continue their capture of UK councils and key UK infrastructure.
This is absolutely connected to Starmer's blind embrace of deregulated AI Growth Zones rollout and Datacentres.
open.substack.com/pub/europeanpo…
When the fuck are the MSM and Independent news outlets such as @novaramedia and @TurnLeftMediaUK going to investigate Zone Fever and the corporate capture of the UK by US techno feudalists, all of which are a direct result of Brexit?
All the articles I've linked to are on my Substack.
Please read, share and subscribe.
I am a volunteer researching the free zone phenomenon. I explain why they are not being reported on and why most people have not heard of them.
I am a member of @thegreenparty

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1948773137878822977

Keir Starmer and Blackrock: A Relationship Built For The Total Privatisation Of Britain open.substack.com/pub/europeanpo… Deloitte should not be receiving new contracts from Keir Starmer's Govt along with astronomical amounts of public money to carry on its atrocious track record of dodgy auditing for some of the most powerful corporations in the world.
The DWP’s focus on benefit fraud, which accounts for a relatively small fraction of public expenditure (£5.5 billion in 2022/23 per the National Audit Office), contrasts sharply with the estimated £46 billion lost annually to tax avoidance and evasion.

The Sovereign Corporation is being constructed in real time, this is what will turbocharge corporate fascism in the UK.
The deregulatory landscape was laid down by Brexit, Labour, and the Tories colluded to carve up the UK into 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs.
In January 2025, Keir Starmer launched AI Growth Zones, which have over 200 bids on sites in the bag, bids are to stay open indefinitely.
In June 2025, Labour published a policy paper titled Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which aims to merge the 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs, and no doubt the digital layer of Starmer's AI Growth Zones as well.
Tories, Labour, and Reform UK all back free zones.
This is a live corporate coup, the UK is being privatised. Sign the petition if you want to continue living in a democracy without corporate free zones stealing your money, your land, your homes, and your human rights.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7294…

@jasonhickel is fantastic, and I'm glad @novaramedia interviewed him.
The richest countries in the world cannot guarantee food security for their own citizens; something is seriously wrong with the 'economic growth' policies of the centrist right.
The degrowth movement is a global socio-economic and ecological philosophy and activist framework that advocates for a deliberate reduction in economic growth, particularly in wealthy nations, as a means to achieve sustainability, social equity, and human well-being.
Degrowth emphasises redistributing wealth and resources through policies like universal basic income (UBI), shorter working hours, and universal public services. We can no longer prioritise corporate profit over community well-being, which has proven completely unsustainable as the last 45+ years have shown.
youtube.com/watch?v=bjlqWH… Growth is the obsession of the capitalist class.
Under socialism you can scale up and scale down sectors.
Socialists should care about human needs and well-being, while decreasing production of harmful and unnecessary things.
So let's all question what exactly entails Labour's 'economic growth' plans more publicly.
Read about Degrowth.
Keir Stamer is a buffoon.

⚠️WARNING⚠️
The head of the UK branch of Palantir is Louis Mosley, who is the grandson of the renowned British fascist Oswold Mosley.
Louis Mosley is quoted as saying that Palantir's strategy for entry into the British health industry was to "Buy our way in" by acquiring smaller rival companies with existing relationships with the NHS in order to "take a lot of ground and take down a lot of political resistance"
The fact that Palantir has 24 contracts with UK public institutions including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the police force, the Cabinet Office, and the DLUHC should be ringing alarm bells.
Quotes from Peter Thiel "The NHS makes people sick" and "I no longer believe freedom and democracy are compatible"
It was the Tories who arranged 23 of the Palantir contracts, the most recent contract given to Palantir was to Coventry City Council by Keir Starmer in April 2025.
Keir Starmer will continue handing out Palantir contracts to councils, as one by one, councils are collapsing due to insufficient funding and poor management. This is part and parcel of how predatory corporations are making serious incursions into the public sector.
Palantir is a key component of the mass privatisation of infrastructure currently accelerating at pace post-Brexit. Lack of Transparency in Procurement
Many contracts were awarded without competition, with some being "handed over in secret" until transparency organisations forced publication.
Even now, the UK government is withholding details of Palantir contracts, making it difficult for the public to understand the full scope.

Hi @zarahsultana
Coventry City Council (your constituency) has just signed a £500k AI contract with Palantir (running 2025–2030), and was set up by Keir Starmer's Govt in June 2025.
Given Palantir’s record (surveillance, ICE, Gaza), many of us in Coventry & beyond are really worried. I know you’ve always stood up for human rights, and that’s why I support the new party you’re building with Jeremy Corbyn.
Your constituents' personal data, including yours, will be in Palantir's hands.
This feels like exactly the kind of issue where your voice could make a real difference, holding power to account locally while connecting it to the global struggle for justice.
Palantir isn’t just another tech supplier: it builds surveillance platforms, powers ICE deportations, and provides software used in drone targeting systems linked to civilian deaths in Gaza.
This deal follows 23 Tory-awarded Palantir contracts, and now Starmer’s government is continuing down the same path, embedding a company with a deeply troubling human rights record into UK public institutions (NHS, police, MoD… and now Coventry City Council).
Given your long record of speaking out for Palestine, against surveillance, and for democratic accountability, and now your call for public involvement in shaping a new party with Jeremy Corbyn, will you commit to challenging Palantir’s presence in Coventry?
Residents deserve to know:
How was this contract awarded?
Why Palantir, despite its record?
What safeguards (if any) exist to stop our data being used for harmful ends?
This is exactly the kind of issue, local, global, and moral that could show how your movement offers a genuine alternative. Palantir's mass surveillance tools & human rights risks Palantir’s systems are widely used across military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies. Privacy advocates warn its platforms enable broad, unchecked surveillance, raising concerns about civil liberties and misuse of data.

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1958130221103689771

When Keir Starmer’s government announced its AI Growth Zones in January 2025, I saw zero press coverage of what this actually entailed, just the usual MSM puff pieces parroting Labour's “jobs”, “innovation”, and “future-proofing Britain” bullshit.
But the real story was hidden in plain sight: this wasn’t just about AI, and it wasn’t just about technology. It was about hardwiring a corporate-first model of anti-governance into Britain’s economic geography by stealth.
europeanpowell.substack.com/p/industrial-s… They arrive silently, no fanfare, no public debate, no parliamentary scrutiny. But across Birmingham, Cornwall, Dorset, Norfolk, Suffolk, and beyond, a corporate takeover is underway. Freeports, Investment Zones (SEZs), and AI Growth Zones are not just coexisting, they’re consolidating into a single threat: Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs).

This is insane, look at this!
DEFRA is pre-empting a barrage of FOI requests on their Land Use Consultation paper.
The Defra Land Use Consultation paper (February 2025) contains an unusual confidentiality clause that raises serious concerns about transparency.
While framed as procedural, the notice effectively pre-empts a wave of Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests. Stakeholders are invited to mark their submissions as confidential, but the government warns it "cannot provide an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances", a line that appears crafted to discourage disclosures rather than protect openness.
In the context of rising public concern over the financialisation of nature, and amid reports of BlackRock and other private asset managers eyeing "natural capital" as a portfolio class, the clause reads as a defensive legal posture. It suggests the government expects scrutiny around who is influencing land use policy, how "nature's assets" are being defined, and whether financial firms are shaping frameworks behind closed doors.
Such pre-emptive language undermines public trust and transparency, especially as environmental commons face unprecedented commodification.
consult.defra.gov.uk/land-use-frame… I reviewed the UK Government’s February 2025 Land Use Consultation and its Analytical Annex, and there is no mention of BlackRock or any specific financial institutions in either document, despite both paper’s foundational emphasis on natural capital and nature markets, which BlackRock explicitly lists among its strategic investment priorities.
As the government simultaneously pursues a partnership with BlackRock and encourages asset-like valuation of environmental resources, the omission of any corporate stakeholders appears less accidental than strategic.

It is not mentioned in the @guardian article, but it is extremely important to know that on 13 January 2025 Keir Starmer’s government announced the creation of deregulated AI Growth Zones.
Both the US and the UK refused to sign for the EU’s proposed AI regulatory framework at the Paris AI Safety Summit earlier this year.
The UK and US Position: - US Vice President JD Vance emphasised concerns about excessive regulation stifling innovation, warning that stringent regulations could “kill a transformative industry” and criticised European regulatory frameworks for imposing “massive regulations” and creating “endless legal compliance costs”
- A UK spokesperson said “the declaration didn’t provide enough practical clarity on global governance and didn’t sufficiently address harder questions around national security”
The Regulatory Divergence: The contrast is stark when considering that the European Union has already enacted the most comprehensive, broad, overarching law on the use and development of artificial intelligence of any area in the world through the EU AI Act, while the US and UK are pursuing what Vance called a “hands-off” approach to regulation.
My point is about Trump and Starmer are both enabling “impacts prohibited under EU law”. The EU AI Act includes specific prohibitions and risk-based restrictions that wouldn’t apply to AI development and deployment in the UK and US.
This regulatory arbitrage will allow practices that the EU has deemed too risky or ethically problematic.
Starmer's Labour Party are dragging the UK into a big tech deregulated dystopia where zoning carves up Britain into competing corporate feudal enclaves with laws and regulations different from the host country.
Palantir has 24 contracts with UK public institutions, the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the Police force, the Cabinet Office, and the Department of Levelling Up and Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Keir Starmer awarded a new contract to Palantir with Coventry City Council this year.
Palantir and the IDF
The Israeli military has developed AI systems like “Lavender”, “Gospel” and “Where’s Daddy?” to process data and generate lists of targets, reshaping modern warfare and illustrating AI’s dual-use nature.
Palantir Technology Inc., whose tech collaboration with Israel long predates October 2023, expanded its support to the Israeli military post-October 2023.
There are reasonable grounds to believe Palantir has provided automatic predictive policing technology, core defence infrastructure for rapid and scaled-up construction and deployment of military software, and its Artificial Intelligence Platform, which allows real-time battlefield data integration for automated decision-making.
theguardian.com/technology/202…
It is no coincidence that Starmer is more than willing to allow US Palantir unlimited access to the UK’s public infrastructure.
It is no coincidence that US Palantir are using its tech to massacre Palestinians in Gaza.
It is no coincidence that Blackrock, Palantir, and 58 more of the most powerful corporations in the world are currently prepping Gaza for Trump, Netanyahu, and the Tony Blair Institute's plans for a luxury Gaza Riviera replete with SEZs, while simultaneously building a 'Humanitarian City' (a concentration camp) for all remaining Palestinians.
x.com/EuropeanPowell…

In June 2025, Keir Starmer's Govt published a policy paper Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan. The 12 freeports, and 74 SEZS, and no doubt AI Growth Zones will be merged.
gov.uk/government/pub…
It's essentially a rebranding exercise to cover up Labour's collusion on deregulated free zones with the Tories. gov.uk/government/pub…
'The UK government is accelerating efforts to build the infrastructure needed to support AI growth. AI Growth Zones will unlock investment in AI-enabled data centres'.
Musk's data centres are already poisoning the environment and causing surges in asthma cases in Memphis.
politico.com/news/2025/05/0…

In 2024 Keir Starmer tweeted about his Government partnership with US Blackrock.
In October 2023, Blackrock is one of many corporations investing and profiting from the genocide in Gaza. Blackrock and Vanguard among the largest investors in arms companies pivotal to Israel’s genocidal arsenal.
@Keir_Starmer obviously knew about Blackrock's lucrative investments in the unfolding genocide in Gaza, yet he and his war-mongering Cabinet kept Blackrock, enablers of textbook disaster capitalism, close to their economic growth plans for the UK.
All of it is beyond obscene.
You can read Francesca Albanese's full report 'FROM ECONOMY OF OCCUPATION TO ECONOMY OF GENOCIDE' on the UN's website
Reminder - Donald Trump has sanctioned Francesca Albanese for publishing this report. About a week earlier Trump sat at a lavish dinner with Benjamin Netanyahu who presented him with a letter recommending Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize...
#PalestineGenocide #Blackrock @FranceskAlbs
un.org/unispal/docume…


The role of corporate entities in sustaining Israel’s illegal occupation and ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza is the subject of this investigation, which focuses on how corporate interests underpin Israeli settler-colonial the twofold logic of displacement and replacement aimed at dispossessing and erasing Palestinians from their lands. It discusses corporate entities in various sectors: arms manufacturers, tech firms, building and construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities and charities.
These entities enable the denial of self-determination and other structural violations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including occupation, annexation and crimes of apartheid and genocide, as well as a long list of ancillary crimes and human rights violations, from discrimination, wanton destruction, forced displacement and pillage, to extrajudicial killing and starvation.

The lies are gushing forth from this rotten Blue Labour cabal.
Remember, this is deliberate.
A designed and engineered plan to abolish the welfare state as dozens of states within states are rapidly spreading across the UK in the form of carve-outs, 12 deregulated Freeports, and 74 SEZs whose projected costs over the next 25 years is £64 billion.
Zone Fever is the corporate plague ravaging public infrastructure that the MSM and most Independent media outlets refuse to expose.
theguardian.com/politics/2025/… The UK is being privatised.

https://x.com/EuropeanPowell/status/1935452984093155783

You need to watch this video from @gilduran76 that explains how exploitative AI is, how Silicon Valley breaks laws with impunity, the main culprits are Sam Altman, Musk, Zuckerberg, Alex Katz and Peter Thiel who are the most predatory characters you can imagine.
OpenAI is being already being used in schools, so instead of learning to think and learn, deregulated OpenAI is de-edcuating children.
You have to ask why?
Combining tech power with state power to a dystopia in the making, this is anti-governance on steroids.
Reminder, the US and UK both refused to sign up for a regulatory franework at the EU ‘s AI Safety Summit in Spril 2025.
We are witnessing a battle of corporate and state empires the roots of which date back to the East India Company.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=C8ddJ5… AI Growth Zones: The Digital Guillotine
Starmer’s AI Growth Zones (AIGZs), launched in February 2025 with bidding now underway, are the digital layer of this techno-feudal nightmare, straight from The Sovereign Individual’s predictions. These zones, wired to The Network State’s token-led governance, weaponise “regulatory flexibility” to empower tech giants like Palantir, Microsoft, and Anduril Industries, backed by Thiel’s Founders Fund and Marc Andreessen’s company Andreessen Horowitz. Anduril’s militarised AI, from border drones to autonomous weapons, thrives in AIGZs’ lax oversight, erecting data centres that drown out public voices. Starmer’s refusal to join the EU’s AI Safety Summit in April 2025, alongside the U.S., confirms this deregulatory race-to-the-bottom.

open.substack.com/pub/europeanpo…

There are glaring parallels with post-Brexit's nationwide rollout of 74 deregulated SEZs, 12 Freeports, and Keir Starmer's AI Growth Zones to Trump's 10 'Freedom Cities' plans.
It's high time this got serious investigative exposure by the MSM, but it won't.
In the US, the Frontier Valley proposal to build an AI-focused tech city on Alameda Point, leveraging a draft executive order for a "national security emergency," aligns with the Network State concept, where tech companies seek quasi-sovereign control over territories. This move could bypass environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act, due to the site's California least tern habitat, and transfer federal land to private hands, echoing Trump’s "freedom cities" campaign promise. His prior use of emergency powers in California, such as deploying Marines to Los Angeles, suggests he might entertain this strategy again, especially given his administration’s tech-friendly stance.
theguardian.com/us-news/ng-int…
The parallels with Brexit’s special economic zones (SEZs), freeports, and Keir Starmer’s AI Growth Zones indicate a global trend of using economic and technological pretexts to reshape governance and land use. Palantir’s 24 UK contracts hint at a broader infrastructural grab, blending public resources with private tech interests. This reflects a race to compete with global powers like China, but it risks undermining democratic oversight and environmental protections.
If Trump approves, it might set a precedent for corporate land grabs, challenging courts, Congress, and California’s authority. Opposition from local communities and legal challenges, especially over environmental concerns, will likely intensify. The outcome could redefine U.S. governance, testing the balance between corporate innovation and public sovereignty.
Reminder - Mass compulsory purchase orders are underway in Birmingham, Cornwall, and East Anglia, thousands of homes are implicated, 5000 protected nature sites are to be bulldozed for Labour's 1.5 million new housing plan, Blackrock who are in partnership with the Labour Party has 80% stakes in 3 British freeports, they have also announced their 'Infrastructure Imperative' project that claims the public sector urgently need private sector investment, as well as targeting green spaces, identifying them as 'nature's assets' to be commodified as new additions to Blackrock finacial portfolio.
The MSM and the majority of independent news outlets, from @novaramedia , to @PoliticsJOE_UK and @TurnLeftMediaUK @CurtisDaly_ @michaeljswalker @AaronBastani @owenjonesjourno @AyoCaesar @AvaSantina @NoJusticeMTG along with many other high-profile commentators on social media are not investigating Zone Fever, which is plaguing the UK and US at an alarming pace. These are all great accounts, but deregulated zoning is not getting the coverage it deserves.
Zonification, technofeudal enclaves, patchworks of corporate sovereignties, whatever you want to call them are spreading like a cancer, eclipsing entire countries.
These free zones represent direct and deliberate attacks on citizens' sovereignty, public services will be wiped out, and laws will become services that companies demand, entailing citizenship by contract.
substack.com/@europeanpowel…
These are wholly illegal attempts at dismantling democracy and the commons via a Govt-backed corporate coup.
thenerdreich.com/startup-seeks-… From The Sovereign Individual - How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State, written in 1997.
- Increasingly autonomous individuals and bankrupt, desperate governments will confront one another across a new divide. We expect to see a radical
restructuring of the nature of sovereignty and the virtual death of politics before the transition is over instead of state domination and control of resources, you are destined to see the privatization of almost all services governments now provide.
For inescapable reasons that we explore at length in this book, information technology will, destroy the capacity of the state to charge more for its services than they are worth to the people who pay for them.
Sovereignty Through Markets
To an extent that few would have imagined only a decade ago, individuals will achieve increasing autonomy over territorial nationstates through market
mechanisms.

What Starmer’s changed Labour Party is doing is forcing a transition from the welfare state to self help in the community. Care in the Community 2.1.
The neoliberal policies Labour openly adopted while expunging the left to form ‘changed Labour’ were warmly inherited from the Tories precisely because they cause misery and suffering, this Death by a Thousand cuts reaffirms just how far the Right has evolved, it has eclipsed the Labour Party.

Labour are literally wallowing in these obscene disavowals of their party’s roots, and as peoples outrage mounts, the outcome will see them dying in the streets.
The pain Blue Labour is inflicting is brutal, it is democide, which neoliberals and libertarians deem a necessary component of eugenics.
Entire generations of people are once again being penalized for being beneficiaries of a socialist egalitarian state.
All of this is antithetical to what the Labour Party once was.
Deregulated SEZs/free zones are introducing a race to the bottom, a patchwork of Social Darwinist feudal enclaves where sovereignty is violated under a corporate political model that no one voted for. The ‘equality frame’ is being described as a form of surrender to socialism after the Second World War.
The writings of Hayek, Friedman and Mises paved the way for Brexit.
The only reason SEZs are being pushed now is to fulfill the Right’s dream of dramatically reducing big government by outsourcing powers to corporations in enclaves where deregulation favours corporations over people.

Norfolk villagers to lose their homes under mass CPOs, what did I tell you?
South Norfolk, along with other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, is part of a designated and deregulated investment zone, a type of SEZ under the UK government’s flagship program.
Norfolk and Suffolk were among 38 areas in England invited to form investment zones to “supercharge economic growth by Sunak and Truss.
There are 74 SEZ and 12 Freeports spread across England, Scotland, and Wales.
While in opposition Labour opposed free zones, but still went ahead and signed off on them with the Tories.
Now in power, Labour are creating more SEZs and last October published a 192 page document on Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs), this was a continuation of Michael Gove's push for CPOs. The document was updated in January 2025.
The MSM is not doing their job and informing the public of what's happening with Zone Fever.
The UK is being carved up into patchworks of corporate sovereignties, all public services will be privatised, as will the entire country.
It is beyond criminal that the MSM are not investigating this properly.
No one voted for this.
itv.com/news/anglia/20… This morning I have sent an FOI request to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
To: Freedom of Information Team
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF
Dear FOI Team,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) across the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to the rollout of 86 free zones (comprising 74 Special Economic Zones and 12 Freeports) as part of the UK Government’s economic growth strategy. I am also seeking data that warrants greater public scrutiny due to concerns about transparency, democratic accountability, and the impact on local communities.

Background Context:
Recent public discourse on platforms like X highlights significant concerns about the scale and implications of the 86 free zones rollout. These zones, spanning 34–75 km in diameter, are linked to CPOs that affect homes, businesses, and agricultural land, often without sufficient public consultation or transparency. For example, a £2.2bn project in Birmingham reportedly involves CPOs affecting 1,833 properties, and similar actions are occurring in Norfolk and Suffolk, where villagers are losing homes.

Furthermore, there are allegations of a lack of transparency, with figures like Rachel Reeves reportedly refusing to commit to audits of these zones, and concerns about corporate influence from entities like Blackrock, Deloitte, and Amazon endorsing related economic policies. These issues underscore the need for public access to detailed data on CPOs and their impacts.

Information Requested:
To better understand the scope, impact, and governance of CPOs in relation to the 86 free zones and other development projects, I request the following information:
Total Number of CPOs Issued Nationally (2023–2025):
The total number of CPOs issued across the UK from 1 January 2023 to 5 June 2025, broken down by year and region (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).
The number of properties (residential, commercial, and agricultural) affected by these CPOs, including a breakdown by property type and region.
CPOs Linked to the 86 Free Zones Rollout:
A list of all CPOs issued in connection with the 86 free zones (74 SEZs and 12 Freeports) identified in the UK Government’s economic strategy, including:
The name and location of each free zone (e.g., Liverpool City Region Freeport, South Hampshire Investment Zone).
The number of CPOs issued for each zone, with details of the number of properties affected and the type of properties (e.g., residential, commercial, agricultural).
The geographical boundaries of each free zone, including any updates to boundaries since their initial designation (e.g., as noted in updated maps for Humber and Solent Freeports on GOV.UK, 3 February 2025).
Specific details on whether Basingstoke, Hampshire, falls within or is affected by any of these free zones, particularly the South Hampshire Investment Zone or Solent Freeport, and if CPOs have been issued in Basingstoke as part of these initiatives.

Areas Affected by CPOs Outside Free Zones:
A list of areas (by local authority or region) where CPOs have been issued for other development projects (e.g., HS2, National Highways projects, urban regeneration) from 1 January 2023 to 5 June 2025, including the number of properties affected in each area.
Any data on CPOs related to infrastructure projects in Basingstoke, Hampshire, as outlined in the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Update (Regulation 18), which identifies major developments like Manydown and Basing View.
Transparency and Public Scrutiny Concerns:
Copies of any internal audits, reports, or correspondence (including emails, memos, or meeting minutes) from 1 January 2023 to 5 June 2025 that discuss:
The transparency of SEZ and Freeport operations, particularly in response to concerns about Rachel Reeves’ reported refusal to commit to a National Audit Office investigation into England’s 8 Freeports and 48 SEZs for lack of transparency and questions over value for taxpayers’ money.
Compliance with the Nolan Principles in the governance of these free zones.
Details of any public consultations held for the 86 free zones, including dates, locations, and summaries of public feedback, particularly where CPOs were proposed or implemented.
Information on the involvement of private corporations (e.g., Blackrock, Deloitte, Amazon) in the governance or funding of SEZs and Freeports, including any contracts, memoranda of understanding, or financial incentives provided using public funds (state aid).
Democratic Accountability and Public Awareness:
Details of any plans or proposals to hold a public referendum or national consultation on the creation and expansion of SEZs and Freeports, given their significant impact on land use and sovereignty, as raised in public discussions on X.
Copies of the Labour government’s 192-page document on Compulsory Purchase Orders published in October 2024 and updated in January 2025, or a summary of its key provisions, particularly those related to SEZs and Freeports.
Additional Pertinent Data:
Any data or reports highlighting the socio-economic impacts of CPOs on affected communities, including displacement, compensation disputes, or changes in local property values, particularly in areas like Birmingham, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
Information on the use of state aid in SEZs and Freeports, including the total amount of public funds allocated to these zones from 1 January 2023 to 5 June 2025, and how this aligns with EU state aid rules, given claims that these zones contravene such regulations for at least 25 years.
Format and Scope:
I request that the information be provided in a clear, digital format (e.g., PDF or Excel spreadsheet for numerical data) where possible. If any requested data is held by another public body (e.g., National Highways, HS2 Ltd, or local authorities), please provide details of where I can access this information or forward my request accordingly. If any part of this request is likely to exceed the cost limit under Section 12 of the FOI Act, please advise on how I can refine my request to bring it within scope.
Rationale for Public Scrutiny:
The scale of the 86 free zones rollout, combined with the extensive use of CPOs, raises significant concerns about transparency, democratic accountability, and the potential for corporate welfare at the expense of taxpayers. The lack of media coverage and public consultation, alongside the refusal to audit these zones for transparency, suggests a need for greater public access to this information.
Furthermore, the involvement of major corporations in shaping economic policy, as well as the long-term implications for EU alignment, warrants scrutiny to ensure that these initiatives serve the public interest.
I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please contact me at my email address if you need clarification on any part of this request.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yours sincerely,
David Powell

People often ask me 'Can the UK rejoin the EU while shackled by 86 deregulated corporate Free Zones?
No, it can't, the UK would have to realign its free zones with the EU Parliament's regulations, which prohibit the use of State aid for profit motives, why?
Because this distorts the Single Market creating an unlevel playing field!
The UK's 86 free zones are backed by £64 billion in public money over the next 25 years, these are corporate playgrounds designed to dodge taxes, slash regulations, and prioritise profit over people.
Guess which parties support free zones in the UK?
The Tories, Labour, and Reform UK...
europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes… Working examples of 3 EU SEZs
Poland’s Katowice, Ireland’s Shannon, and Portugal’s Madeira
They all show how to do regulated Special Economic Zones in the right way, and they’re a slap in the face to the UK’s corporate free-for-all.

Katowice, launched in 1996, turned Silesia’s coal-scarred rustbelt into an automotive powerhouse, creating 80,000 jobs with firms like Opel. Its 50% tax exemptions, capped by EU Regional Aid Guidelines, are Commission-approved to lift a deprived region, not line corporate pockets like the UK’s £896,246-per-job Freeports.

Shannon Free Zone, born in 1959, employs 8,000 in aviation and tech, with export-focused grants under GBER—no selective tax deals since the €13 billion Apple crackdown.

Madeira’s MIBC, since 1987, boosts 3,000 jobs on a remote island with a 5% tax rate, capped at €3 million per firm, ensuring it’s no tax haven, unlike Teesside’s shady land deals.
These 3 EU SEZs are transparent, regionally focused, and in line with the EU state aid rules.
Katowice’s public-private management reports every euro to the Commission, Shannon’s state-owned operator avoids post-Apple pitfalls, and Madeira’s Development Company caps aid to prevent market distortion.
Contrast this with the UK’s 66-80% job displacement and £19.78 billion squandered on corporate welfare.
EU SEZs prioritise people's livelihoods and communities over corporate profit, while the UK’s zones serve BlackRock and JCB, shielded by ISDS and LCIA clauses that could cost billions to dismantle in private corporate courts.
For EU reentry, the UK must copy this model: cap incentives, target deprived areas like Teesside, and enforce transparency, not Deloitte’s audit whitewashes concocted to satisfy the whims of Blackrock's shareholders.