Politicians needs to focus on long-term prosperity
With just days to go until the general election on May 7, business should be concerned.
John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), wrote to UK party leaders in December with a call from business for them to act responsibly during the election campaign, and put the UK's long-term success over political tactics and point-scoring.
All of the major parties responded with a clear commitment to act in the interests of the economy and growth.
With only a few days left in this campaign, it is clear that politicians are not delivering on their promises, so the BCC have written to them again:
"While there are some encouraging statements and positive ideas in manifestos, on the campaign trail it seems strategic vision and evidence-led policy announcements have been left on the bus. In their place we've had tactical headline-chasing and lazy assumptions; a reliance on populist statements, not economic common sense; and niche policy announcements, rather than a focus on the fundamentals.
"Worryingly, the parties are also taking it in turns to propose new interventions in markets. These measures simply serve to side-step regulators and experts, rather than strengthening their hand.
"Parties are competing to make ever more strident pledges to freeze taxes and ring-fence spending for the life of the next Parliament, without being able to see very far down the economic road ahead. No well-run business would tie its hands in this way.
"And, dishearteningly, we also have policy proposals that, if enacted, would undermine entrepreneurship, aspiration and business growth. We have heard ideas to raid pension savings, create new levies on companies, and limit the tax relief available for genuine wealth creators and small investors, to name but a few.
"Constraining those willing to take the risks needed to grow businesses demonstrates a lack of leadership. It is counter-productive and deeply troubling."
Businesspeople want to see a clear vision for future success in an ever more competitive and dangerous world. Our shared prosperity depends on it.
At Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, we regularly challenge politicians to confirm what experience they have outside politics and the answer always seems to be "too little".
Sadly, a lack of understanding about the real world which most of us inhabit is having an all too visible impact on the quality and tone of this disappointing election.
We should expect more from those who would seek to lead us.
- Robert Collier is chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article