Blair under attack at CBI dinner

Despite the high profile courting of business and business leaders, CBI President Sir Clive Thompson gave Tony Blair a hard time during the CBI's annual dinner last night. Sir Clive attacked the role of government in industry, citing in particular changes in UK employment laws as 'the biggest and most damaging overhaul of labour market regulation for 20 years'.

However, what was of most interest was Mr Blair's six point strategy plan for the economy. The Prime Minister outlined six points which he labelled as 'virtually universal in modern economics':

Tony Blair's Six-point strategy

· Stability in economic management

· Stability achieved through fiscal prudence and monetary policy run independently of government

· Government where the primary role was not industrial intervention but investment in education and infrastructure

· Encouraging enterprise through a good climate for business, a tax system which rewards success and an active welfare state that moved people off benefit and into work

· Apart from that, an economy should have as much competition and access to technology as possible

· With stability, over time, there must be real improvements in productivity and investment from business itself.

The main complaint from the CBI leader was that the increasing employment legislation is acting as a brake on business growth. Independent consultants who regularly work significantly more hours than the Working Time Directive will be more interested in Mr Blair's emphasis on stability, non-intervention and enterprise.

IR35 flies in the face of stability and certainty at present. And as our poll currently shows, it is acting as a sharp brake on the sort of flexible, entrepreneurial work-force that the CBI are lobbying for.