Keir Starmer was followed onto the stage at the QE2 centre by Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.
As expected, Haviland urged ministers not to hit businesses with further tax rises for businesses in the next budget.
She also added her voice to the debate on Rachel Reeves’s focus on fiscal rule forecasts, insisting that these fiscal rules need to be “responsive”.
Haviland says:
“There must be no further tax increases on business in the autumn budget.
“Business leaders are resilient, but they are also flexible.
“Some of our well thought-out business plans sometimes no longer meet our needs. When the facts change, so do we.
“And the Government needs to take the same approach.
“If the UK economy is subject to any further economic shock, such as a sustained spike in oil prices, then we need fiscal rules that are responsive and protect business investment.”
Earlier this week the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, warned against “over-interpreting” the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts.
If those forecasts were to move against the chancellor, she could feel pressure to raise taxes or cut spending to keep within her fiscal rules (which include having debt falling in five year’s time).
As Bailey pointed out, “There is a danger in over-interpreting a five-year-ahead forecast.”
