Businesses are Britain's true engine of prosperity. They create good jobs, support thriving local communities, and drive the innovation that funds public services. However, for too long, British firms, especially small high street businesses, have been let down by a combination of Conservative economic mismanagement and Labour's anti-growth tax increases.
Small businesses currently waste an estimated £25 billion a year and 44 hours per firm just completing compliance forms. Meanwhile, many early-stage start-ups are forced overseas to raise growth capital because of outdated investment limits and a tax system built for a previous era.
Today, Liberal Democrat members passed a comprehensive new policy to cut red tape, encourage private sector investment, and build a mutually beneficial partnership between the public and private sectors.
To grow the economy, the government needs to work with enterprise, not against it. The party's headline reform would break up the Treasury and create a new Department for Growth, based in Birmingham, as a single, accessible "one-stop-shop" for businesses and investors.
The party is also launching a major campaign to tackle the unfair jobs tax, cut energy costs, and reduce bureaucratic drag while protecting fundamental consumer and worker rights.
To make the UK the best place in the world to launch and scale a business, the economic architecture must be updated for the modern digital age.
British enterprise does not need more government meddling or chaotic tariff wars. It needs a stable, pro-enterprise partner that understands how growth actually happens.
Liberal Democrats are ready to back British firms, raise living standards, and get the economy moving again.
