This was in response to the 60 plus Chief Executives agreeing with the Tory policy that an increase in N I is in fact a "Tax on jobs"
Taking Brown’s track record on his handling of the economy, does this not show the arrogance this man displays.
Your comments please.
It was Mandleson not Brown who said business leader were duped. But that doesn’t really matter he was wrong to say it – the business leader know exactly what they were saying and were certainly not decieved.
What he should have done is highlight why they said it, what it means for them (i.e. how much they will gain from the tories) and what it means for the rest of us (i.e. how much tax the rest of us need to pay for it, or how much needs to be cut from the public purse).
Cameron has explained how he is going to replace the income generated by NI in the first year by cutting waste from the budget – he has mention scrapping a planned IT overhaul in the NHS as saving a big part of that.
But what puzzles me is what happens the following year? If NI is raised then you would have the £6 billion still coming in but you cant cut the IT overhaul again – the saving is a one off.
So where is Cameron going to get the £6 billion from? He has to either cut services, raise taxes or borrow it. There is no other option.
I have never seen a business leader want to pay more tax so of course they are going to complain about doing so – as does everyone. It is also not a tax on jobs (something that Cameron and Osbourne have jumped on and mention at every opportunity) I have yet to see a business leader that employs somebody to stand around and do nothing either – so regardless of how much NI a business is charged if they need to employ someone they will, if the need to make redundancies they will also do that.
Cameron has also pledged to reduce corporation tax, increase the threshold on inheritance tax, recognise marriage in the tax system, hopefully remove the 50% tax rate within the parliamentary period and now not increase NI.
It all sounds great – but how is it going to be paid for? Neither Cameron or Osbourne have explained that – and to be honest the business leaders dont care, they have increased the profits and margins without doing anything – that means a bigger bonus for them next year – one they will pay less tax on.
A business leader voting Labour would be like a turkey voting for Christmas. But here is the catch – if the tories cut public services and drive up unemployment that will effect every business in the UK – the 60 or so business leader that support this proposal are being very short sighted. But looking at some of these so called business leaders long term planning isn’t in their nature…. the banks wouldn’t have gone bust if they looked 5 years in advance rather than 5 days!!