Self-harming tax rise shames the Chancellor

During the Tory leadership race in the summer, one candidate proposed a radical plan to turbocharge the economy: Slash corporation tax to 15 per cent.

‘We need to start up Britain,’ he said. ‘That means sending a signal that we’re going to be the most pro-business economy in the Western world.’

So what happened to this enthusiastic champion of enterprise? Well, Jeremy Hunt is now Chancellor – and he’s had a profoundly depressing change of heart.

Instead of encouraging businesses to thrive, he is punishing them by hiking corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent from April 1. Just as Britain desperately needs a growth spurt to thrust itself out of the economic doldrums, punishing companies this way is simply short-sighted.

As Lord Bilimoria, vice president of the Confederation of British Industry, rightly says: ‘How much more can business take?’

This paper understands Mr Hunt’s desire to reduce debt and repair our creaking public finances. But businesses will simply abandon high- tax Britain, which will threaten jobs and reduce tax receipts.

How shameful and self-harming that a Conservative government is happy to tax the most productive parts of the economy until the pips squeak.