Shadow Business Minister Ken Clarke says that under a Conservative government Britain would be open for business. But are the Tory's ideas all that different to Labour's?

As he moved away from his business brief to a broader attack on Gordon Brown's record in office, Ken Clarke yesterday showed some conference-season warmth for his opposite number, Lord Mandelson. He commented on Mandelson's "surprisingly theatrical" speech last week, joking that he could have a career in Panto if he wanted one. He reminded his audience that Mandelson had returned to the Cabinet with the sole objective of saving Gordon Brown from a "bunch of incompetent plotters" in the Labour party. "As one comeback kid to another, Peter," he joked, "I ask you, why did you do it?"

But for all the Mandy-bashing, there was very little attack on policy. Perhaps this is because the focus, if not the methods, of Clarke's plans sound familiar. The promotion of high-technology manufacturing and innovative industries; the removal of red tape for those running small businesses; and a desire to invest in training and apprenticeships to get more young people back into work. Now is that Labour or Conservative policy? There isn't even one of Boris's cigarette papers between them.

Clarke almost admitted as much, claiming that the real difference between Labour and the Conservatives was ideological. Even if Labour intended to help businesses, he said, they acted in the mistaken belief that the best way to do this was through direct intervention. The result, said Clarke, was always "bigger, more expensive government."

In contrast, Clarke painted the Conservative approach as getting out of the way and providing the right climate in which businesses can grow and get on with creating wealth and jobs. He claimed to have applied a simple test when he was at both the Treasury and the Business Department, which was: "will this make it easier for the small business man in the Midlands to get on with running his business?"

As the governing party, and particularly after 12 years in office, Labour is in the tricky position of defending its record, while at the same time setting out plans to remove some of the regulation and red tape that Labour was itself responsible for introducing. The government would point out that Clarke's stated test for regulation is exactly what the Better Regulation Taskforce and Small Business Council, and all the various combinations of those two bodies, have been doing all along.

Specific proposals, launched yesterday by the shadow business team, range from the sensible, through the not fully formed, to the absurd. Sensible plans included making business rate relief automatic for those small firms that qualify for it (at the moment even those eligible have to fill in a form to qualify, which puts many off); and the re-introduction of a version of the classic 1980s Enterprise Allowance Scheme, to help people start their own business (this time with added training and mentoring). The not so well judged included a promise to adopt a legally binding "one-in, one-out" approach to regulation, so that any new law would only be allowed to be passed if an old one was struck off. And a new committee would be set-up to ensure this happened.
The more absurd-perhaps intended for the Conference floor only-included a plan to allow people to vote on the rules and forms they most dislike, with the top 30 being scrapped after 12 months if "no one came riding to their rescue."

It's good to see that the likely leaders of the next government are placing such emphasis on the importance of small business. After the previous announcement on national insurance relief for new start-ups, it's clear that the Conservatives are placing huge emphasis on the wealth- and job-creation abilities of the enterprise economy. Whether they prove any more effective at reducing the burden of legislation on small firms remains to be seen.

One good sign is that the shadow business team includes people with a degree of business experience, including a successful entrepreneur Adam Afriye. And Clarke himself is no stranger to the boardroom, having worked as a non-executive director for several years. Whatever else this bunch achieves, they already appear more credible than Gordon Brown's attempt to introduce business flair with his government of all the talents (GOATS) policy.

Richard Cree

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