• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Business leaders slam ‘economically illiterate’ Johnson’s big speech

The right-wing Adam Smith Institute said Johnson's speech was “bombastic but vacuous and economically illiterate".

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
2021-10-07 08:59
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Boris Johnson’s conference speech has been heavily criticised by business leaders for lacking a coherent economic plan.

On the last day of the Conservative Party conference, Johnson said he was setting out the “difficult” process of reshaping the British economy.

With labour shortages hitting supply chains, leading to empty shelves and queues at petrol stations, Johnson defended his strategy of restricting the supply of cheap foreign labour after Brexit, insisting his new approach would ultimately create a “low-tax economy”.

But businesses leaders have criticised this approach, with many arguing that restricting migration could lead to higher inflation and increase costs on the consumers.

‘Endless sponge’

Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland and Leave voter, complained about the government treating businesses like an “endless sponge” when they can only weather so many cost increases at once.

He told the Times: “The finger is being pointed at business as the bogeyman, but it’s much wider than that. We want to pay our people as much as possible but business is not an endless sponge that can keep absorbing costs in one go.

“Next year we’ll have a wave of higher costs in one go. Next year we’ll have a wave of higher costs from higher energy bills, extra HGV drivers, packaging costs. We can only weather many cost increases at once, so they need to tape it.”

RelatedPosts

Cost of living: Eye-watering figure MPs pocket in ‘second jobs’ revealed

Internet poet gives ‘If’ a Downing Street party remix

Progressive alliance would hand Labour a MASSIVE majority in parliament

Good Law Project to pursue legal action against Met Police following Partygate picture leak

The Federation of Small Businesses criticised the 45-minute conference speech, noting Labour, and not the Conservatives, are the only party with a “pro-small business policy”.

Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, told Times Radio: “Looking at this party conference season, there was one party of the two that came out with a pro small business policy.

“And I think, you know, the government should be looking at that and going: ‘Well, maybe we’ve taken this group a bit for granted’. So now, what is that small business offer? What is their response? And at the moment there isn’t much, so there needs to be a really strong response to the budget.”

‘Bombastic but vacuous’

Free market think tank the Adam Smith Institute described the address as “bombastic but vacuous and economically illiterate”, while Conservative think tank Bright Blue said there was “no inspiring new vision or policy”.

Ryan Shorthouse, director of Bright Blue, said in an interview with the Guardian: “The public will soon tire of Boris’s banter if the government does not get a grip of mounting crises: price rises, tax rises, fuel shortages, labour shortages. There was nothing new in this speech, no inspiring new vision or policy.”

When pressed on the discontent felt by business leaders, Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central Jo Gideon defended the government, telling BBC Newsnight: “We’ve got a million job vacancies at the moment but we’ve got also unemployment.

“When we went into the pandemic, it was predicted that we would have more than two million more unemployed that we actually have so I mean it’s a success story of the furlough of the £400 billon that was invested to keep people and businesses afloat.”

She added: “I am out there meeting businesses every day and I’m hearing two things: they are both enormously grateful for the support that they have from the government during the pandemic, and also very much looking forward to being part of this massive chunk of jobs where they have support, apprenticeships and kickstart schemes to take new people on.

“In my own constituency, there is a massive commitment for local businesses to support.”

Related: Big on bluster, short on substance: Boris gives rambling conference speech

Tags: Boris JohnsonBrexit

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

The Rainbow Olympics – Is this our most diverse games yet?

‘We have lost six players, I’m not saying we will get six in’ Newcastle United boss says he won’t be push over for Ashley

Freelancing and Raising a Family: how to make it work for you

Health and wellbeing policies can no longer be treated as a ‘nice to have’ by businesses

Europe Day 2021: Musicians from 43 countries beat World Record whilst UK groups campaign for EU citizens

Britain’s post-Brexit blue passport to be made by EU firm

The Seafood Bar opens in London

Morgan Freeman blessed by holy man in Nepal

Landmark court case considers whether to decriminalise street prostitution

Paedophile encouraged a nine-year-old girl to expose herself on camera using a popular live streaming app

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.