Labour

Response to Osborne speech to the FSB - Businesses are crying out for a real plan for jobs and growth - Reeves

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to George Osborne’s speech to the Federation of Small Businesses dinner, said:

“Businesses are crying out for a real plan for jobs and growth from this Chancellor. But he refuses to extend the national insurance holiday to all small firms taking on extra workers. And he won’t recognise that raising taxes and cutting spending too far and too fast has choked off the recovery, pushed up unemployment and is leading to £158 billion more borrowing than planned.
 
“As for creating an anti-business culture, George Osborne should look in the mirror. Under his watch the economy has gone into reverse, net lending to businesses is falling and in the last three months over 4,000 companies went under – up 7.2% in a year.
 
“Greater transparency, accountability and responsibility on top pay will give businesses more certainty and is the way to ensure we really do get rewards for success but not for failure. And repeating the bank bonus tax to fund 100,000 jobs for young people is a fair way to help tackle the unemployment crisis facing our country right now. It’s time this complacent and out of touch Chancellor understood this.”