UK Government Retains Boston Consulting Group for Ten-Year Strategy

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has engaged the American consulting firm Boston Consulting Group to help draft a ten-year national plan. The initiative aims to reshape the UK’s economic trajectory, a move the Prime Minister has characterized as an effort to move beyond neoliberalism. However, the decision has prompted immediate scrutiny from opposition leaders and activists regarding the consultancy’s recent activities in the Middle East.

Boston Consulting Group is one of the three largest management consultancy firms globally. The company has faced accusations of supporting Israeli strategies in Gaza and being linked to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians. The firm assisted in establishing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an aid distribution body backed by the United States and Israel. At four sites operated by the foundation, more than 2,600 Palestinians were killed and thousands were injured while seeking assistance, with many victims shot by Israeli soldiers or US security contractors.

According to a report by the Financial Times in July 2025, the consultancy was paid more than four million dollars for its work on the project, which was codenamed Aurora. The seven-month engagement involved senior staff members. Following the revelations, Boston Consulting Group dismissed several employees and confirmed that the projects had been conducted secretly. The firm also launched an internal investigation, prompting Save the Children International to suspend its partnership with the company.

The consultancy’s involvement in Gaza extended to financial modelling for the potential relocation of the population. After US President Donald Trump outlined a vision for the enclave, the firm estimated the costs of moving hundreds of thousands of people. One model suggested that more than 500,000 Palestinians might leave with relocation packages valued at nine thousand dollars per person, totaling approximately five billion dollars.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski criticized the hiring, describing it as a contradiction of the Prime Minister’s political promises. Polanski noted that Burnham, who took office in July, had pledged to end neoliberalism. He argued that retaining a major consultancy while failing to implement rent controls or nationalize water companies suggests the government is privatizing the country’s future. Polanski also pointed to the connection between the firm and James Purnell, Burnham’s chief of staff, who worked as an adviser to the consultancy after leaving parliament in 2010.

Purnell, a former minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, served as vice chancellor of University of the Arts London before returning to government. His return to an advisory role has raised questions about the selection process for the contract, which Polanski called a wild coincidence. A UK government spokesperson responded by stating that external support is limited, short term, and focused on specific specialist advice. The government reiterated its commitment to reducing overall spending on consultancy across the public sector.

The ten-year plan is expected to be published by Christmas. It will address welfare spending, economic growth, energy policy, and public control of utilities. The Prime Minister has faced criticism from his own MPs for not nationalizing failed utilities and for maintaining the ban on the group Palestine Action. His relationship with the Emirati owners of Manchester City Football Club has also drawn scrutiny after a finding that the club broke Premier League rules on a massive scale.