Firms urged to join tax protest

Research by the FSB with the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that increasing employers' National Insurance by one per cent will cost 57,000 jobs at a time of record unemployment figures, but will not give any substantial help to plug the Government's gap in public finances.

The FSB said it wants to see businesses using the petition to persuade the government to reverse the planned one per cent rise in National Insurance and put a halt on any future rises in the foreseeable future.

Raising taxes on small businesses must be a last resort if they are to do their job of helping to put the country on a steady road to recovery, the FSB said.

Martin Cuthbert, the regional chairman, said: "The rise in National Insurance is a tax on jobs and will cost the country in thousands of jobs, as well as prevent small firms from taking on more members of staff at this crucial time in the country's economic recovery."