Parties gear up for June election

The Conservative Party launched a scathing attack on the Government’s
over-regulation of business with the release of its election manifesto last
week.

The manifesto claims that the Government is controlling business through
regulation, and that the Conservatives would free businesses to serve their
customers.

They are proposing a new Deregulation Commission, which would scrutinise all
regulation and have the power to send it to Parliament for full debate.

The commission would calculate through an independent audit the cost of
government regulations for business. It would then set regulatory budgets for
each government department alongside their financial budgets, which would be
reduced every year.

Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary David Heathcoat-Amory told Personnel
Today, "We have a government that does not understand business. Few of
them have ever worked in any sort of commercial environment. It is all a theory
to them.

"The accumulation of red tape has gone too far and it has to be
reversed."

Business taxes would also be pared back, with a Conservative government
abolishing the new climate change levy and IR35, the new tax rule for
subcontracted employees.

Heathcoat-Amory said, "We want well-paid staff in secure employment –
we realise that this can’t be done by passing a law but by promoting the
competitiveness and productivity of British business, which is now more than
ever exposed to the chill winds of international competition.

"We want to get business costs down, clip red tape and allow managers
to manage, while not dismantling employment protection, which is
essential."

The Conservatives would also change the UK’s relationship with the EU so
that new directives could be effectively resisted.

Heathcoat-Amory said, "We now face an endless stream of employment and
business regulation. We would, therefore, do our best to halt that."

The Labour Party manifesto will be released this week.

By Mike broad

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