Brown vows to rebuild Labour relationship with businessmen |
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Wed, 18 May 2005 15:10
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Gordon Brown donned his role as the Chancellor of the Exchequer for yet another time, but a tad more carefully. In his first address as the Chancellor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) dinner, Brown warned the risks that the EU economic downturn was posing to the economy and subsequently sought a 'truly national consensus' on the economic reform issue.
Brown stated in his address at the CBI dinner that the recession in the European economy was fallout of the sudden upsurge in fuel prices along with a rise in the cost of primary materials. He said, “As we look ahead to the rest of 2005, the latest risk is low economic growth in Europe -- one pct below what was expected a year ago -- particularly in Germany, our largest export market in the euro area.”
Brown is further expected to tell the Amicus union that a ‘wage discipline’ had to be achieved and the trade union ought to cease pressurising employers to raise wages of its members. He said that the new government had placed economic reforms in the top priority list and an agreement for the same had to be arrived at soon.
| He was quoted saying, “In our presidency of the EU we will push forward our proposals to liberalise the single market and make the European economy more dynamic. Our proposed agenda will be labour market reform, so we will resist the opt-out being removed to the 48-hour week; product and capital market liberalisation, so you have access to European markets. And it is around pro-economic reform, pro-global Europe policies that perhaps the first truly national consensus on Europe can develop.”
Brown emphasised his disapproval of the EU plans to introduce a 48-hour working week as well and said that he was against the removal of the opt-out program.
He, simultaneously, attempted to piece together differences between Labour and businessmen, by saying that the government would adopt a rather soft and ‘humble’ approach towards regulation of companies, than last year and would slash red tape too considerably.
Meanwhile, Brown admitted that the previous government had gone overboard in its regulatory activities and that the pledge of cutting red tape had fallen through, leading to “so many false starts”. He vowed this time to exercise necessary curbs in regulation and provide “not just a light touch, but a limited touch.” Consequently, he proposed that the private sector should lead the economic reforms movement since the government was in need for a cultural change.
Reiterating his motive of renewing trust between businessmen and the government, Brown said that the government recognised business people as ‘wealth creators’ of the economy and understood that the government should focus only on essential matters. He said, “I propose not simply a new approach to regulation but to build a new trust between business and government founded on the responsible company, the educated consumer and government more humble because it is well aware of its limitations.”
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