The British Chambers of Commerce has warned Ed Miliband that he must make reconnecting the Labour Party with business a key priority for his early months in office.
According to a survey of Labour back-benchers undertaken by polling organisation ComRes on behalf of the BCC, while small-to-medium businesses are keen to see a reduction in the number and cost of new employment regulations in order to help them create new jobs, many Labour MPs are not in favour.
Some 93% disagreed that employment law had shifted too far in favour of workers to the detriment of employers, while 84% believed that a short-term freeze on new and supplementary employment regulations would help economic recovery and job creation.
Two thirds were against limits on the number of employment law changes that should occur at any one time, while 62% believes that government does a good job of analysing the potential impact of change on business before they are introduced.
On the other hand, 99% agreed that promoting exports and trade should be a high priority for the coalition government, while just over two thirds affirmed that expenditure on infrastructure should be maintained to support business growth.
Adam Marshall, the BCC’s director of policy and external affairs, said that, during the worst days of the recession, the policies adopted by the Labour Government – including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee – helped prevent many small- and medium-sized businesses from going to the wall.
“However, with Labour now in opposition, our survey shows a gap emerging between business and backbench MPs on critical issues such as deficit reduction and employment regulation. We urge Ed Miliband to make reconnecting with business, both locally and nationally, a key priority of his early months in office,” he added.
Economic recovery depended on business confidence improving and making it easier for companies to take staff on, Marshall said.
In his first big speech as Labour leader today, Miliband will promise “different ways” of doing politics in an attempt to signal a break from the policies of the Blair/Brown era. He will sympathise with “anger at a Labour government that claimed it could end boom and bust” and attest that the Party will not “lurch to the left”.
Miliband has already denied that he will be in thrall to the trade unions, despite winning the leadership position as a result of their backing.
