Clegg versus big business

And, while the Liberal Democrats deserve praise for instigating key changes to the NHS reforms and increasing personal tax allowances to help the low-paid, the party’s antipathy towards entrepreneurs and wealth-creators threatens to become deeply damaging.

This was self-evident at the party’s spring conference as Mr Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said the wealthiest must bankroll tax cuts for the less well-off in next week’s Budget that could be crucial to the coalition’s chances of surviving until the 2015 election. It is a sentiment that appears popular at face value, especially when the Lib Dem leader illustrates the scale of deliberate tax avoidance by the wealthy.

Yet his party has still to state clearly on how new tax rules on the super-rich will be properly enforced – the mansion tax, one of the ideas at the centre of Lib Dem thinking, is unworkable unless there is a complete re-working of council tax bands, and there is little prospect of the Government embarking upon a revaluation exercise. Having forged a coalition because it was in the national interest to do so, it might benefit the Lib Dems if its key Ministers sought to influence policy from within the Cabinet rather than going public with every grievance. This soul-searching is creating the impression that the Liberal Democrats are not suited to high office and would be content to remain in permanent opposition.

They are also failing to realise that the best way to help Britain back onto its feet is by lowering taxes – and using this as a means to nurture a new generation of jobs.

Yet, when Business Secretary Vince Cable’s letter on this very subject was leaked recently, the York-born Minister seemed oblivious to the fact that his department is actually responsible for growth – and key players in the City are now exasperated by its anti-business rhetoric.

Having acted in the public interest when the Coalition was formed, Mr Clegg and his team need to do so again so the Government can send out a strong message that Britain is open to business. If not, the deep social challenges highlighted by the Lib Dem leader yesterday will only be exacerbated.