Business verdict on 10 years of Labour Government
The Institute of Directors (IoD) has published a new survey of company directors on the impact of 10 years of Labour Government on business and the economy.
32 per cent of company directors think that New Labour has been good for business, but 45 per cent think it has been bad. 21 per cent of company directors state that New Labour has been neither good nor bad for business.
The IoD’s survey results suggest New Labour’s performance should be grouped under 4 headings:
Very favourable performance Macroeconomic performance Favourable performance Enterprise policy, environment policy Unfavourable performance Education & skills, EU and energy policy Very unfavourable performance Tax system, regulation and transport policy
Whilst macroeconomic performance is seen as a clear success story for New Labour, there is a very strong divide in business opinion between the conduct of monetary and fiscal policy. Monetary policy (the Bank of England – interest rates) receives a positive balance of + 47 per cent whereas fiscal policy (HM Treasury – tax and public spending) records a negative balance of – 28%.
Laura Wolfe, Regional Director of the IoD North West, said: “The Government gets credit from IoD members for granting independence to the Bank of England, but there is a big thumbs-down for the conduct of tax and spend policy.”
46 per cent of company directors think the UK economy is more competitive now than in 1997, whilst 33 per cent think it is less competitive. However, company directors appear unwilling to give too much of the credit to the Government. When asked specifically whether Government policy had improved or undermined competitiveness, 46 per cent stated the Government had undermined competitiveness whereas 33 per cent thought it had improved it.
Laura Wolfe added: “There has been much economic success over the past 10 years, but there is also a sense that with a less active tax and spend fiscal policy, together with less regulation and tax complexity, performance could have been even better. Education and skills, and particularly transport policy, are seen as areas of missed opportunity. “The next PM not only has to maintain macroeconomic stability but must also make some real progress on some of these key issues.”
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Background:
The survey of 500 IoD members from across the UK was undertaken by GfK NOP in April 2007 and the full survey is available upon request.
The Institute of Directors is a non-political independent organisation with 55,000 members. In addition to its wide range of business services, the IoD provides an effective voice to represent the interests of its members to government and key opinion-formers. It also brings the experience of business leaders to bear on the conduct of public affairs. More information at www.iod.com/northwest
The North West Region of the Institute of Directors is one of the fastest growing regions of the IoD.
Contact Points:
Jane Harrad-Roberts, Press Officer, IoD North West Mobile and out of hours: 07785 395705 Email: jane@marketingprojects.co.uk
Laura Wolfe, Regional Director, IoD North West Tel.: 0161 209 3152 Mobile and out of hours: 07973 332564 Email. laura.wolfe@iod.com
Web. www.iod.com/northwest
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