PBR(12) 'More Brown rhetoric' - Qdos

Keith Preece from Qdos Consulting sees little comfort for small businesses among 'more Brown rhetoric'.

Keith writes:

Gordon Brown's manifesto for his turn at the Labour Leadership, otherwise known as the "Pre-Budget Report", gave no comfort to the proprietors of small businesses. Amongst the fine talk of "opportunity for all", there was nothing about improving the lot of, or relieving the burden upon, the 3.75 million small and medium sized businesses that account for 55 per cent of the UK's business employment and 52 per cent of the UK's business turnover.

The Chancellor's speech began by listing his achievements, in promoting the longest ever period of economic growth, in keeping inflation and interest rates at the lowest ever levels, in keeping unemployment at historically low levels. Fine. There is nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet. However, he then went on to make some rather grandiose statements about how he proposed to make things even better in the future.

It seems that Mr. Brown's plans for the future are based upon the efforts expected from a particular group of people. He talked about our "scientific genius", our "world-class universities", our "global reach", and about the UK being the best place for research and development. All of which suggests that the future growth of the economy is supposed to be based upon the intellectual skills of those very people whom the Chancellor has previously sought to alienate.

What of the scientific geniuses who graduate from our world-class universities? Are these the people that Mr. Brown expects to set up their own companies and use their intellectual skills to stimulate the growth of the economy, giving opportunities for employment at home and stimulating trade abroad? Or are these the same people who take their talents out of the UK, because they feel stifled by the labyrinthine complexities of our tax system? In this context, the phrase "global reach" is ironic indeed.

The Chancellor's fine words about stimulating the future growth of the economy do not ring true. How are we to exploit the talents of our population, if that talent is being discouraged on a daily basis, by the very tax system for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible?

The Settlements Legislation and IR35 both hang over the heads of small businesses like the Sword of Damocles. Who in their right mind wants to set up a small business in the current climate? Why should those of us with intellectual skills and an entrepreneurial bent risk our efforts and resources on a venture that is hamstrung by a tax system that restricts rewards and seeks to treat everyone like an employee?