With the European elections only two weeks away and the British general election under a year away, the CBI has decided to ramp up the pressure on the politicians to keep the interests of business at the front of their minds.
The industry advocacy organisation said politicians of all shades should put incentivising investment and the economy ahead of “short-term electioneering.” In what could be perceived as an endorsement of the policies of the current government, the CBI urged politicians to “stick with what is working.”
In its statement, the CBI calls for the present and next governments to commit to a number of courses of action to ensure growth continues. It says the government must stay committed to a deficit reduction plan, protect labour market flexibility, renew efforts to increase housing supply, reform public service management, loosen immigration policy on non-EU workers and take a hands-off approach to competition and economic regulation.
The warning has been made to coincide with the release of the CBI’s latest projections for the UK’s economic performance. The CBI has upgraded its forecast for UK GDP in 2014 to growth of 3% from 2.6% and 2.7% in 2015 from 2.5%.
“The UK now has more stable economic foundations, and political risks must not jeopardise this,” CBI director-general John Cridland said. “Politicians must be wary of the risk of headline-grabbing policies that weaken investment, opportunity and jobs,” he added.
“Political positioning must not be allowed to stifle investment, whether it’s an unrealistic immigration target, unjustified interventions into specific markets, flirting with leaving the European Union, delaying vital long-term infrastructure projects or restricting labour market flexibility,” warned Katja Hall, CBI chief policy director.
