The government should aid business through the tough times the Confederation of British Industry told the Prime Minister at its annual conference.

The trade body is advocating delaying the changes to VAT which would affect recruitment agencies and the implementation of the Agency Workers Directive.

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, told Recruiter:
"They are examples of things the government said it would do but now. But in a recession it would be completely unreal. Now is not the time to make the labour market less flexible."

After hearing speeches from Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron, feedback from the audience appeared to favour Cameron's approach. The leader of the opposition had criticised the government of “accounting” which would "impress Enron" and advocated improved transport links and greater private involvement in the public sector.

Marcello Mosca, director of financial services at executive and IT recruiter Harvey Nash, told Recruiter he thought Cameron came across better to the audience. "He was much more interactive and well prepared. I
  think the audience warmed to him much more than they did Brown."

Christopher Goodfellow reporting from the CBI Performance through adversity conference, London.

For further news and analysis see Recruiter 10 December.