CBI warns Brown against tax hikes
The Confederation of British Industry has warned chancellor Gordon Brown there is no room for tax hikes when he announces his pre-budget report later this month.
Making the comments at its annual conference in Birmingham yesterday, the CBI said there was no room for new spending initiatives, adding the government should stick to its current spending plans to strengthen the economic infrastructure.
But it maintained its calls for tax credits worth about Pounds 2bn for research and development.
In addition the CBI told the chancellor that, if the economic slowdown worsened, he should prepare an emergency tax package for the hardest hit sectors of the economy in the March budget.
Also at the conference CBI director-general Digby Jones urged the Bank of England to cut interest rates by half of a percentage point, renewing a plea made last week for a cut in the bank rate, folowing a report which showed UK export prospects at their lowest level in more than two decades.
The CBI’s latest MORI survey found 63% of UK businesses believed the terrorist attacks on September 11 had damaged their business prospects.
Links CBI MORI survey