Mr. Lambert spoke about the issue ahead of the Confederation for British Industry's annual London conference this week, announcing, according to the Guardian, that:

"The CGT proposals in the pre-budget review came out of the blue. I think they were not properly thought through and are unsound. People are more angry than anyone can remember. It's a very big deal."

Alan Wilson, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) has written to Mr. Darling, stating that if the Chancellor goes ahead, his decision will be "damaging to Scottish business and the Scottish economy", The Scotsman reported on Friday.

Mr. Wilson also reportedly commented on the Chancellors' plans for a GBP100,000 retirement allowance, observing that: "The retirement allowance fails to provide enough protection to business and investors and leaves unsolved the problem of private equity speculators failing to pay an appropriate rate of tax on their income."

The Scotsman went on to quote the CBI boss as observing in a speech delivered last week that: "It was a mis-judgment and a misunderstanding of the role that tax plays in business. A lot of businesses have built their plans on an assumption that the regime Gordon Brown introduced when he was Chancellor was something that could be relied on."