This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8598386.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Labour hits back over Tory plans | Labour hits back over Tory plans |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Lord Mandelson has hit back after 23 captains of industry backed Tory plans to axe part of Labour's planned National Insurance rise. | Lord Mandelson has hit back after 23 captains of industry backed Tory plans to axe part of Labour's planned National Insurance rise. |
| The 23 bosses including Marks & Spencer's and Next's chiefs - said the 1% NI increase was a "tax on jobs" and would "endanger" economic recovery. | The 23 bosses including Marks & Spencer's and Next's chiefs - said the 1% NI increase was a "tax on jobs" and would "endanger" economic recovery. |
| Tory leader David Cameron said it was a "significant" general election moment. | Tory leader David Cameron said it was a "significant" general election moment. |
| But the business secretary said the Cosnervatives could not make their sums add up without increasing VAT. | |
| He told a press conference at Labour Party campaign HQ the Tory policy was a "cynical deception" because it could not be done without putting up other taxes, such as VAT. | |
| It is a significant moment in the election campaign... the heads of these biggest companies, employing 500,000 people, have said, in terms, that cutting government waste won't endanger the recovery but putting up National Insurance will David CameronConservative leader Company bosses back Tories | |
| He said shadow chancellor George Osborne was "like a kid in a sweet shop, who thinks he can just grab sweets from every jar without paying for them". | |
| He said he heard "very strong echoes of Mrs Thatcher" in what Mr Cameron had said about cutting spending on things such as regional development. | |
| Chancellor Alistair Darling, appearing alongside Lord Mandelson at an election campaign-style press conference, said company bosses supporting the Conservatives in a letter were backing pledges made on a "wing and a prayer". | |
| He accused Mr Osborne of "double counting" and claimed the Conservatives were £22bn over budget - and the £6bn in efficiency savings they planned to use to axe the National Insurance increase was "illusory, non-specific and unbankable". | |
| And he urged the business leaders who signed the letter to "have a long look at what the Tories are up to and then they might just have some serious questions to ask". | |
| 'Wrong time' | |
| If they win the election, the Conservatives plan to scrap the planned April 2011 National Insurance rise for anyone earning less than £45,400 a year, which they say would save people £150 a year on average and also reduce the tax burden on firms. | |
| Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme halting the tax increase was not in conflict with his party's plan to cut Britain's record budget deficit. | |
| David Cameron: "There is a threat to the recovery from putting up National Insurance" | |
| "We are finding savings in government spending in 2010, net saving of £6bn, which means we'll be borrowing £6bn less, and that allows us in 2011, having got public spending on a lower path to stop this damaging tax rise that hits people earning over £20,000 and is a tax on jobs for every employer, on anyone earning over £5,700. | |
| "And it is a significant moment in the election campaign, I think very significant, that the heads of these biggest companies, employing 500,000 people, have said, in terms, that cutting government waste won't endanger the recovery but putting up National Insurance will." | |
| The endorsement of Mr Cameron's position comes from a group of high-profile businessmen, including Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose, Sainsbury's boss Justin King and easyGroup's Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. | |
| Writing to the Telegraph, the business leaders said the proposed NI increase was an "additional tax on jobs" and would come into effect "at exactly the wrong time in the economic cycle". | |
| BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins says the businessmen - which include some who are well known Tory supporters but also two who sit on the prime minister's business council - have an obvious incentive for opposing a tax rise that will cost their companies money. | |
| However, he added that their endorsement would be a boost for the Tories and their shadow chancellor George Osborne, as they seek to demonstrate the credibility of the party's economic plans. | |
| The full list of signatories of the letter: Sir Anthony Bamford (JCB); Bill Bolsover (Aggregates Industries); Dominic Burke (Jardine Lloyd Thompson); Ian Cheshire (Kingfisher); Neil Clifford (Kurt Geiger); Mick Davis (Xstrata); Aidan Harvey (Tullow Oil); Lord Harris (Carpetright); Justin King (Sainsbury's); Sir Chris Gent (GlaxoSmithKline); Ben Gordon (Mothercare); John Lovering (Mitchells and Butler); Graham Mackay (SAB Miller); Alistair McGeorge (Matalan); Nicolas Moreau (Axa UK); Stephen Murphy (Virgin Group); Alan Parker (Whitbread); Sir Stuart Rose (Marks and Spencer); Paul Walsh (Diageo); Joseph Wan (Harvey Nichols); Simon Wolfson (Next); Zameer Choudrey (Bestway Cash and Carry); Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (easyGroup) |