Conservative tax plan inappropriate, says BCC

Proposals to offer small businesses tax relief have been thrown out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Plans by the Conservatives would have seen firms receive £2,500 in national insurance relief for hiring long-term unemployed individuals, were they to win a general election.

But the BCC has condemned the idea, saying that small firms were more likely looking to lose staff, rather than recruit them.

Director general of the organisation, David Frost, commented: "This policy announcement would have been a valid welfare-to-work initiative in better times, but it is not a survival tool for small businesses during the economic downturn."

Tory leader David Cameron had originally disclosed the proposal during an interview with the television programme GMTV, following the Prime Minister's suggestion that he too was considering tax cuts.

A recent investigation by the website cmypitch.com found that many small firms believed the government was not doing enough to help the sector.