Gordon Henderson has welcomed Conservative proposals that would provide help for local firms and entrepreneurs in Sittingbourne and Sheppey to set up and grow new business.

 

More firms have gone bust during this recession than in any previous downturn. The latest Government figures show that in the last quarter 34 companies faced being wound up and over 2,500 people faced bankruptcy in Kent alone.

 

New Conservative proposals would:

 

• End Labour’s practice of pushing thousands of businesses into bankruptcy over small amounts of unpaid taxes. Jobs would be saved and entrepreneurs would be given the support they deserve. The statutory threshold over which the Government can petition to make a business insolvent would be raised.

 

• Boost social mobility by ending the unfair restrictions on people starting a business in social housing. Social tenants could become entrepreneurs, creating new jobs and opportunities. Measures to prevent noise and nuisance would remain in place.

 

• Make it easier for people to set up new enterprises by cutting the time it takes to open a new business. Britain should become the fastest place in the world to start a business. Under Labour, it takes twice as long to start one in the UK as in the USA, Denmark or Hong Kong. The number of forms needed to register a new business will be cut, moving towards a ‘one-click’ registration model.

These changes come on top of Conservative plans to reduce small company corporation tax rates to 20p; to make small business rate relief automatic in England, saving small firms up to £1,260 per year; and to abolish tax on the jobs created by new businesses in the first two years of a Conservative Government.

 

Mr Henderson said:

“As we move slowly out of recession, local firms in Sittingbourne and Sheppey need a strong helping hand to help create new jobs and expand their business. Conservatives will remove the obstacles in the way of new firms and stop the taxman kicking local firms when they’re down.

 

“But too often the message from Labour Ministers is ‘don’t start a business, don’t buy your home, don’t try and leave money to your children, don’t try and get on’.  They’ve made it so difficult to employ people, so difficult to start a business.  We can’t go on like this, and it’s time for change.”