Prime Minister Burnham calls for a change in Britain’s approach to business
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the country needs a “culture shift” in the way it does business. Ahead of a government meeting with the heads of major companies, he stressed that the state must support entrepreneurs willing to take risks, while local leaders should have the authority to work with companies, MyJoyOnline reports.
Meeting with business
Chief executives of BP, Shell, HSBC, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, BT, Vodafone and Rolls-Royce are expected to take part in the meeting on Monday. Burnham himself cancelled events planned for Monday and Tuesday following the death of his father.
According to the prime minister, the government must give people confidence that they will receive support to implement a successful idea. He also said that a partnership between the authorities and business, as well as giving local leaders the necessary tools, could help attract investment, create jobs and develop communities.
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Borrowing and hospitality industry demands
The meeting will take place ahead of Chancellor John Healey’s first budget, which is due to be presented next month. Rising borrowing costs in the United Kingdom and other countries are increasing pressure on public finances and making spending on business support and investment more difficult.
The yield on British 10-year government bonds, one of the key indicators of the cost of public debt, exceeds the corresponding figures for the United States, France and Japan. Experts link this, among other things, to factors affecting investor confidence, including frequent changes of prime ministers and chancellors and revisions of policy decisions.
Separately, more than 800 executives of pubs, restaurants and hotels have appealed to the prime minister to reduce the VAT rate for the hospitality sector from 20% to 10%. The letter was signed, among others, by chefs Heston Blumenthal and Tom Kerridge. Conservative shadow business minister Julia Lopez called for lower taxes for companies and criticised the Labour government’s policy on employer costs.
