Parties square up as month-long election campaign begins

Business and the economy have dominated early campaigning as the UK prepares for a 6 May general election.

On Tuesday the prime minister finally confirmed the widely anticipated date, leaving politicians a month in which to rally supporters and sway undecided voters.

And as the economy shows signs of a continued, if fragile recovery, much of the early debate has centred on business, regulation and taxation - especially in relation to the proposed 0.5 percentage-point hike in employers' National Insurance contributions. While many business leaders came out in support of Conservative plans to reverse the increase, Gordon Brown said yesterday in a GMTV interview that business had been "deceived" by the Tories.

The prime minister's comments provoked anger in some quarters, while the Institute of Directors (IoD) criticised the politicisation of the debate, stressing that business organisations had been arguing against the hike since it was announced in December's pre-Budget report.

"We welcome the fact that the Conservatives have now decided to support a reversal of the hike, but they are 'late to the party'," it added.

The big issue

Marks & Spencer executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose said that a further point raised by business leaders about the opportunity to cut waste in Government had been "ignored", with the IoD agreeing that public sector spending was "the big issue".

"Instead of hitting struggling businesses and employees with a tax rise before the recovery is established, the Government should be outlining how it plans to achieve spending reductions on a scale big enough to tackle the deficit," it said.

Other business groups have also spoken of the need to address the shortfall in Government funds, caused in part by the injection of public money into the economy over the past two years to mitigate the effects of the recession. The Confederation of British Industry reiterated its call for the next government to balance the public finances by 2015-16.

Pain

Setting out a list of 12 priorities, director-general Richard Lambert said: "Whichever party wins the election will have a lot on its plate, but the number-one priority must be to set out a clear and credible plan for restoring the public finances and supporting economic growth."

Calling for urgent action to make business taxation more competitive and minimise "the scarring effects of youth unemployment", he added: "We believe that focusing on these priorities will help create the right conditions for job-creation and economic stability."

Meanwhile, further comments by Sir Stuart Rose suggested that businesses are only too aware of the continued difficulties they will face over the coming years.

"There are more taxes coming, whether we have a Labour government elected on May 7 or a Conservative government elected on May 7," he said.

"We will all have to take some form of pain."

IMAGE: Carl Court/PA Wire/Press Association Images

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