UK Business Lacks Confidence In Labour’s Tax Policies

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

12 April 2005

According to a survey conducted on behalf of the Financial Times by pollsters MORI, nine out of ten finance directors believe UK taxes will rise if Tony Blair’s Labour Party is returned to power at the general election, scheduled for May 5.

Of the 200 directors with senior financial responsibility at firms of varying size questioned, 51% believed that Labour’s tax and regulatory policies discouraged company expansion, whilst only 4% considered the current regulatory and tax environment encouraged corporate growth.

Moreover, over half of the finance directors predicted that Labour’s policies will not improve economic conditions, whilst 49% thought the Conservative Party’s policies would create a better environment for business.

However, there was one ray of hope for Mr Blair (or more accurately Gordon Brown) as considerably more of the respondents (58%) believed that the current incumbent makes for “the most capable Chancellor”. This represents double the number who thought that his counterpart on the Opposition benches, Oliver Letwin, would be a more suitable occupant of Number 11 Downing Street.

The survey additionally revealed that 58% of the directors polled would be voting Conservative, compared to 26% who planned to vote for Labour and 14% for the Liberal Democrats.

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