A supplementary business tax: now that’s an idea for a recession!

In launching the Queen’s Speech, the Government has said that fighting the economic downturn is its over-riding priority for the year ahead.

It’s difficult to see how many of the Bills will make any difference on this front. Waging a war on booze and lap-dancing bars, which as far as I can tell is the sum of what the Queen’s Speech adds up to, will have the opposite affect – these may be the only home grown sectors that remain profitable!

The most bizarre idea is to give local councils the power to levy a supplementary (additional) business rate. How is this supposed to stimulate the economy? As Julia Goldsworthy pointed out: “with many firms struggling to stay afloat this is the worst time to introduce a new charge on businesses.” Quite.

It may not come as too much of a shock to readers that I would be against this initiative. But the fact that I find myself in agreement with the Lib Dem Local Government spokesperson (that doesn’t happen too often) in opposing new tax raising powers for local councils just proves what strange times we live in.