Brexit’s Nigel Farage slammed the age of “global corporatism” where the lobbying power of big business allows them to dominate government thinking while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are ignored, despite making up a huge part of the economy.
Reform UK launched Small Business For Reform on Monday, as the party offered SMEs the chance to directly get involved in crafting legislation, rule changes, and tax reforms to benefit that crucial but badly abused sector of the economy ahead of a potential future British government run by Nigel Farage’s party.
Reflecting on decades of government policy that has privileged big business and multinationals while hobbling small business with ever more regulations and taxation, Mr Farage observed the gap between the political class — who very often have no business experience whatsoever — and the GDP-generating part of the economy has never been larger and called for a government that would allow the self-employed to “carry on with their lives”.
SMEs are treated with suspicion if not outright hostility by default, Mr Farage noted, and those who do manage to break through the bureaucracy, identify a niche in the market, and make a successful go of it are seen to have moral failings because they’re making money.
He told the gathering of 300 SME leaders in London’s Royal Horticultural Halls:
There is no understanding of the impact of legislation. And that is because government only listens to big business. I saw this myself in my 20 years in Brussels. The big companies had their own lobbying offices, and it’s not dissimilar here in Westminster.
It’s the big businesses that take you to Wimbledon, it’s the big business that that take people out for dinner, it’s the big businesses that shape policy. And the small businesses, frankly, don’t even get a look in.
And that’s remarkable when you think about it because over 99 per cent of all businesses in this country are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. And think of this, 50 per cent of those employed in the private sector, I’m talking about over 13 million people are directly employed by small businesses.
Mr Farage insisted he wasn’t against big businesses doing well, but wanted SMEs to “have a chance”.
These comments follow others by Farage last week when he hosted a major event laying out the Reform Party’s economic vision, when again he spoke out in defence of small businesses. Speaking in the city of London, Mr Farage noted large businesses are generally well-disposed towards increasing bureaucracy and regulations given their size allows them to absorb the extra cost of compliance, while potential future competitors working their way up from small and medium business sizes may be forced out of business by it, leaving the big players free to further dominate the market.
Breitbart News reported on Sunday on polling on the economy that found UK voters trusted him most to handle the economy over other politicians. In just the latest bad news for the present British government, their chancellor Rachel Reeves — who will be delivering the new budget in a matter of weeks — is now the least trusted major politician.
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