Lord Lawson: Chancellor threatening UK business

News Article - 23 October 2006
Category: Business

Gordon's Brown policies of red tape and taxation risk driving businesses out of the UK, Lord Nigel Lawson has claimed.

The former chancellor warned that should the current conditions for businesses continue, London is at risk of losing its status as Europe's leading financial centre, the Telegraph reported.

Lord Lawson's comments come in a pamphlet published by the Centre for Policiy studies, in which he stated that "the level and complexity of taxation" is one of the biggest threats facing London.

"Over the past ten years both the burden and the complexity have greatly increased, the latter mind-bogglingly so," he wrote.

"This process badly needs to be reversed."

He added that for London to hold its status as a major financial centre, "regulation with a light touch is essential".

Lord Nigel Lawson was the longest reigning chancellor of the exchequer since World War I, serving from 1983 to 1989, although Gordon Brown has now overtaken this tenure.

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