Zone Fever: The UK’s Stealth Carve-Up of Democracy, Hidden from the Public Eye

The UK is being quietly sliced into a patchwork of deregulated enclaves—Freeports, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), AI Growth Zones, and now Defence Growth Zones. “Zone fever” is accelerating at breakneck speed, yet most people have no idea it’s happening, let alone that they might be living in or near one.

The mainstream media (MSM) is eerily silent, and the reason is as chilling as it is deliberate: rubber-stamped primary legislation, swiftly followed by secondary legislation, has bypassed parliamentary debate, public notification, and press scrutiny.

Welcome to the rise of the sovereign corporation, and the hollowing out of democracy.

The Zone Explosion: From Freeports to Defence Growth Zones

It started with the Tories’ 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs, sold as engines of economic growth immediately after Brexit. Labour MPs, Mayors, councillors, Lords, and Baronesses quietly signed off with the Tories on their full fat free zones while publicly stating thay were ‘no silver bullet for the economy’.

Then, in January 2025, Labour’s government rolled out AI Growth Zones, with 200 bids for sites already submitted, adding a digital layer to this deregulated corporate playground.

Now, just two days ago on September 8, 2025, the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 unveiled Defence Growth Zones, promising 50,000 new jobs by 2034/35. Linked to Freeports and investment zones, these defence-focused enclaves are touted as boosting British industry, from nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness to cyber security hubs in Northern Ireland.

But dig deeper, and this isn’t just about jobs. It’s about power. Labour’s Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, launched in June 2025, merges these initiatives into a single, sprawling framework. What looks like fragmented policy is a new map of the UK carved up into zones where different rules apply, where corporate interests trump public will.

Stealth Legislation: No Debate, No Disclosure

Here’s the scandal: this transformation is happening in the shadows. Primary legislation authorised Freeports, but the critical details, site selections, 10-year tax breaks, and outsourcing governance to corporations, were shoved through via secondary legislation. No parliamentary debate. No public consultation. No press conferences.

The Defence Growth Zones, announced with fanfare on September 8, follow the same playbook, with local authorities roped in to “coordinate” without clear accountability.

Are local governments representing constituents or serving “other partners”, no doubt predatory corporations and central government?

Most people don’t even know these zones exist. With councils collapsing under debt and mismanagement, local authorities are becoming vehicles for private profit, not public service. BlackRock already owns an 80% stake in Freeports at Felixstowe, Harwich, and Thamesport, while Otter Ports Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands and directed by Lord Smith of Kelvin controls eight more.

Zone licenses last 25 years, with 10-year corporate tax breaks almost certain to be extended. This isn’t temporary; it’s a permanent corporate takeover.

The Sovereign Corporation Rises

This isn’t just economic policy, it’s the infrastructure for a post-democratic order. These zones function like mini-states within the UK, with the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) allowing corporations to sue governments for “breach of contract.”

Post-Brexit state aid rules let public money flood into corporate projects, while the upcoming UK-US trade deal, also embedded in statutory instruments, opens the door to American firms exploiting tax breaks and deregulating food standards.

Picture it: a hybrid between a private company and a state.

Physical territory via Freeports and Defence Growth Zones. Digital sovereignty through AI infrastructure. Financial muscle from trillions managed by global funds like BlackRock. This isn’t science fiction, it’s happening now.

Nigel Farage’s cosy chats with Donald Trump hint at linking UK zones with US experiments like Honduras’ Próspera, a private city with its own arbitration system. The political spectrum Conservatives, Labour, Reform UK, backs this model, leaving voters with no real choice.

MSM Silence: Complicity or Incompetence?

Why hasn’t this hit the headlines? The MSM’s silence is deafening.

Is it complicity, with corporate owners shielding their interests?

Or incompetence, missing a story that could define the nation’s future?

Either way, the public is left in the dark. A recent X thread by @EuropeanPowell (that’s me!) flagged this “Checkmate UK” moment, warning of a country sleepwalking into corporate sovereignty.

The lack of transparency, zero notification to communities living near these zones, suggests a deliberate blackout.

What Can We Do?

The cost will be borne by communities, towns, and cities, their infrastructure subordinated to shareholder returns. But it’s not too late.

Democracy’s future hinges on whether citizens wake up to this partition. Demand parliamentary debates on every zone.

Flood local councils with questions, ask if you’re in a zone and who profits. Share this story, because the press won’t.

The rise of zone fever isn’t a technocratic detail. It’s a test: does sovereignty belong to the people or the corporations claiming to serve them?

The clock is ticking.

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This article (Zone Fever: The UK’s Stealth Carve-Up of Democracy, Hidden from the Public Eye) was created and published by EuropeanPowell and is republished here under “Fair Use”