UK Shadow Chancellor Hits Out At Red Tape And Tax

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

11 October 2002

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday, Shadow Chancellor, Michael Howard condemned the government for 'heaping' bureaucratic requirements and additional taxes onto new businesses in the UK.

Mr Howard alleged that some 4,642 new rules for businesses have been introduced since 1997, although this claim has been previously refuted by the Labour government.

He also suggested, citing figures released by the Institute of Directors in July, that administering this red tape is costing British businesses some £6 billion per year, and claimed that this figure could be doubled if the additional taxes imposed by Labour are included.

Slamming Gordon Brown's decision to increase national insurance contributions in his May budget as a 'tax on jobs', the Shadow Chancellor announced that the business environment in the UK would be much improved under a Conservative government, although he declined to explain exactly how this would be achieved.

However, these criticisms do follow the recent release of a survey of British-based entrepreneurs recently conducted by Barclays, which found that excessive red tape and high taxes on business are seen as the greatest obstacles to success.

The poll, published last week, revealed that when 'fast growth' UK firms were questioned as to how the government could best assist them, reducing red tape, and cutting the business tax burden came top of the list.

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