“People are in control, politicians are always their servants not their masters”

So there we have it, fresh, bright optimistic words from the new Prime Minister in his speech on 5^th May. Words that we have believed should be the defacto status of a true democracy. Whether a local politician, an MP or an MEP or government official at any level, the word is out on the street, the guidelines are set, the people have spoken.

Now we need to see who is listening. The cold hard facts are that we are in a serious position, money will be tight, tax will be higher. The question we must now constantly ask, is – is it fair, is it sensible, will it build or destroy. What we must not lose sight of is the fact that the small business sector has a critical role to play in the underlying structure of the economy and must be nurtured. Take away the ability to invest, the ability to employ, the feeling of confidence and the entrepreneurial risk taking, then this economy and the country will not meet the prosperity targets it needs to set for itself for global survival.

The FSB is pleased that coalition negotiators have listened to the business community and plan to reverse the proposed one per cent increase in NICs for employers. A healthy increase in personal tax thresholds is something that FSB has been urging for some time. This will not only provide more disposable income for the lowest paid workers, but will also encourage businesses to take on more staff. From our point of view, the inclusion of the Lib Dems is an interesting one as they lifted much of the content of our own manifesto – typos as well and incorporated it in their own.

Reading through the Coalition programme for government there are some quite clear promises that are being made. The fact that it is spelt out that “Government believes that business is the driver of economic growth and innovation” is hardly surprising, but we are all agog as to how they will set out to deal with the issues.  The regulatory burden reduction is top of the list it seems and yes, with that approach business may begin to get a breath of air into the working week and have more time to concentrate on the job in hand – growth. The promise to “support the creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships – joint local authority business bodies to promote local economic development” seems a little like closing the gate after the horse has bolted, Kent surely has a good precedent in the Economic Board, however with a new slant and some empowerment as suggested by the paper, it could be rebuilt to replace the Regional Development Agency activities.

It is critically a time where politicians have had their cards marked, and are under a microscope, now is the time, as evidenced by the start of this unique coalition, to set aside old ways of thinking, political dogma and to stand up and think of Britain and deliver promises.

There are some great, hardworking people out there in the public sector and local government with whom the FSB are working with and applauding through the FSB Accord initiative and I know that my colleagues in business and in the FSB will do their best to play a role in our economic recovery, it needs to be a joint effort – call it a coalition if you will.

This entry was posted on 11/08/2010 at 09:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorised. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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