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Small businesses call for MPs to “put aside differencesâ€
Tuesday, 07 May, 2010
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Politicians heading for a hung Parliament are being urged to put aside their differences and create a functioning administration as soon as possible.
The call came this morning from The Forum of Private Business in the wake of the general election which appears to have left no single party gaining an overall majority.
With a hung Parliament potentially threatening to hold up tax and spending proposals aimed at tackling Britain’s record deficit, this uncertainly is likely to increase further, the small business group warns.
The Forum believes small to medium-sized enterprises are crucial to the country’s economic recovery, with the potential to create jobs and spearhead innovation.
But the not-for-profit organisation is concerned that the uncertainty and confusion caused by a hung Parliament will jeopardise this and hamper business owners’ attempts to plan ahead.
Forum chief executive Phil Orford said: “I expect many smaller businesses will be disappointed that the election has resulted in a hung Parliament.
“However, the outcome can’t be changed so it is vital that the newly-elected MPs put aside party politics and work together to come up with a credible system of governance.
“With the economy still in a very precarious state and a mountain of public debt to be tackled, businesses owners need our elected representatives to move away from inter-party point-scoring and show political responsibility.”
He added: “I would urge all the political parties to do everything they can to come to a swift, workable consensus in order to secure the prosperity of Britain’s SMEs and the wider economy.”
Recent Forum research found that almost three quarters (70%) of small business owners were already finding it difficult to plan for 2010, even before this morning’s general election result.
The body is calling on the new Government to completely scrap the planned rise in National Insurance Contributions. The Conservatives have pledged to cut that rise in half but the Forum is arguing that it should be dropped completely to avoid taxing employment as the economy heads out of recession.
The Forum’s Tax and Budget Member Panel recently found that 68% of small businesses feel that the tax burden is already unfair for small employers and 65% said that taxes overall are a serious problem for their business.
*See linked election story.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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