Small firms join row over NI
Hundreds of SMEs sign letter in protest at Labour’s planned tax rise
Over 400 bosses of SMEs have signed a new letter to stop next year’s planned
National Insurance rise, reports
The Daily
Telegraph.
They say that Labour’s proposal to increase the tax “threatens to derail the
economic recovery.”
The latest letter, released by the Conservatives, said: “Between us we run
hundreds of small and medium enterprises across the country. Our businesses are
at the heart of the economy and the centre of our local communities. For the
last two years we have worked hard to protect our staff and businesses through
the recession.
“We believe that the Government’s proposal to increase National Insurance,
placing an additional tax on jobs, comes at exactly the wrong time in the
economic cycle.”
Philip Hammond, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Gordon
Brown’s war with British business puts him on the wrong side of working people.”
Labour earlier released a letter with nearly 60 signatures from economists
criticising Tory policy, saying that reversing the tax rise and cutting
government spending could lead to job losses and stall the recovery.