Labour unveils funding shake-up to help turn UK into global startup hub

Party to give British Business Bank greater independence to raise capital in latest move to cement growing pro-business reputation

Labour is aiming to seize ground abandoned by the Conservatives on economic growth with plans for a shake-up of business funding to help fast-growing startups secure billions of pounds in fresh investment.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, will use a speech to 350 business leaders in Canary Wharf, east London, on Thursday to announce the findings of the party's review into startup funding led by Jim O'Neill, the former Tory Treasury minister and Goldman Sachs economist.