Lib Dems would scrap DTI
Launching their manifesto for business the Liberal Democrats have again promised to scrap the Department of Trade and Industry.
They say scrapping the DTI would free business from red tape.
They are also promising to lower the taxation on small and medium enterprises and introduce sunset clauses for all legislation affecting business.
Trade and Industry spokesman Malcolm Bruce said that abolishing the DTI would be the single biggest act of deregulation ever.
Mr Bruce said: “Abolishing the DTI and transferring its useful functions to other departments will be the biggest single act of deregulation in history.
“Central Government business support schemes are often bureaucratic, expensive in time and money, and unfair. Most businesses want advice and support accessible on the ground where they operate.”
He said that taskforces and working parties take-up vital resources and reduce the time spent on key business tasks. Mr Bruce added that with a million manufacturing jobs lost since 1997 “it is clear that if the state of trade and industry in the UK is the problem, the Department of Trade and Industry is not the answer”.
Mr Bruce added that the Lib Dems would create a “new environment” for business in which companies would be “set free to get on with the job of creating prosperity and jobs, innovating and trading across the globe”.
He said that Lib Dems plans for a Business Rates Allowance, available to all firms with a rateable value of less than £25,000, would have the effect of giving most small businesses £600 off their annual rates bill.
