Parliament returned this week from its ‘conference recess’, giving all the political parties a chance to set out their stall to voters. I appreciate that very few people reading this column will ever have attended an event like a Party Conference – but they are critical to the political calendar, and the policies announced may have major ramifications both nationally and locally.
Every business I speak to across South Suffolk is affected by the challenging economic conditions. So, when it came to the Conservative Party conference, I was particularly pleased by the strong emphasis on supporting our wealth creators. Yes, the cost of living is a huge issue more broadly, and one that I have written about many times in this column, but the impact on supply chains and industry from rising prices is often overlooked.
But whilst I therefore welcome some of the individual pledges we had at our Conference to reduce the burden on business – whether cutting employment red tape or slashing business rates – there was one particular promise that caught the headlines. Kemi’s promise to exempt the family home from inheritance tax.
Whatever one thinks of this measure, a key part of the debate is surely – what is the economic impact? We know that our previous pledge to scrap stamp duty is backed by economists for making the housing market less gummed up, but what of removing one’s primary residence from ‘death duties’?
To this, my gut instinct answer as someone who ran their own business is rather simple. It’s about ‘mojo’; it’s about the big picture of risk and reward.
At the moment, as the IMF sounds another warning about economic growth next year, my feeling is that Britain is lacking the oomph to get the ‘animal spirits’ fired up. In short, we need policies that send a signal – that motivate people to start businesses; that show those who work hard that there is a reward at the end of the line.
In recent years, there is no point denying the sense among many people that there’s been less and less reward for those who strive and work hard to put something aside for future generations. So, I know there will be a lot of technical debate about the precise statistical impact of our central policy pledge, but in my view, the most important facet of this proposal is that it might just galvanise the wealth creators who we rely on to get our economy going. With unemployment 300,000 higher and the cost of living surging, this is something that couldn’t come soon enough.
Of course, if any party is going to make promises, it’s my belief that they must be paid for. That’s usually the hard bit.
So, I’m pleased to say that in recent months we’ve spelt out billions of pounds in savings we would make from public expenditure, especially on the welfare bill. This not only frees up cash but makes a country stronger.
From my point of view, as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, it also means that we can promise to increase spending on the military to 3% of the GDP. This figure may sound technical, but it amounts to £10bn extra per year. And if it sounds a little arbitrary, it’s the very amount by which John Healey said we needed to increase spending to ‘keep Britain safe’, when he resigned as Defence Secretary.
The problem is, John Healey is now Chancellor and is showing slightly less enthusiasm for the 3% pledge. Without a plan to cut welfare and get Britain working, it’s hard to see where Labour are going to get the money from to fund Defence, if they won’t address the soaring benefits bill.
Whereas, we do have a fully funded plan to get to 3% on Defence and at Conference, I started to set out how we would spend that cash on the top priority of keeping this country safe. I announced ‘Britannia Shield’ - our proposed programme to protect our nation from the new era of drone and missile threats. With a £10bn budget, this would be one of Britain’s most significant military programmes since the cold war.
If conflict sounds distant in Ukraine and the Middle East, just remember that in recent months we’ve had threats against Suffolk based defence companies, and Russian frigates lurking off our shores. That’s why strengthening our defences must be a top priority for our county as well as our country. It’s why our conference focused on both economic and national security.
Published by the Suffolk Free Press.
