Tories vow to slash 'red tape'
The Conservatives continue to argue corporate red tape should be slashed to increase Britain's international competitiveness.
Monday, 01, Oct 2007 12:00
The Conservatives today vowed to slash red tape, arguing reducing the regulatory burden would boost businesses.
Addressing the Conservative party conference, shadow business, enterprise and regulatory reform secretary Alan Duncan said he would address the problem of regulation "hard and fast".
The Tories would work to reduce the overall number of regulations in place, with one or two pieces of regulation scrapped for each new rule that comes into force.
Mr Duncan also said he would stop the practice of "turning a one page EU direction into a hundred pages of UK law."
He said the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) must act as a "clearing house" for all Whitehall legislation that could have a regulatory impact.
Government must champion free enterprise and responsible business, he said, telling delegates: "Other countries make products; we sometimes just make rules."
Mr Duncan's arguments were given weight by the publication today of a new report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), promoted on the Conference fringe.
The report found the average small business spends seven hours a week on regulations and paperwork, warning this red tape burden prevents small firms from growing and employing more people.
The FSB wants the UK government and European Commission to push forward deregulation, arguing this could provide a €150 billion boost across the EU.
Tina Sommer, FSB EU affairs chairman, said small businesses do not dispute the need for regulation but the current regulatory burden is weighing them down.
Appearing as part of the Conservative conference economic competitiveness debate, Mr Duncan attacked Gordon Brown's record on government.
He said the prime minister had "squandered" a decade of growth, stored up "massive problems" for later and saved nothing for a rainy day.
Under his "prudent" handling of the Treasury, Mr Brown had doubled council tax, "destroyed" pensions and allowed an "astronomical explosion" in personal debt.
In an outspoken attack on Mr Brown, Mr Duncan made clear the Conservatives are launching their "fight back" through the economy.
The shadow business secretary said Mr Brown's political success has been "built on an illusion of unending prosperity" and he was now trying to woo voters "using every trick in the book."
Mr Duncan told the conference floor: "We are living in the world predicted by George Orwell. Gordon Brown was elected in 1983. I feel it all started in 1984. The central control of that novel, and the spooky allegory of life on Animal Farm, is being lived out for real, here, in Britain, today."
As the Conservatives continue to face the prospect of a snap election, Mr Duncan told delegates: "Gloves on, head up high. Be hungry, be ferociously determined. The fight is on."