Britain’s leading business organisations, representing hundreds of thousands of companies and millions of employees, stand with them in their fight. Signatures continue to pour in for our joint petition (www.no-nics-rise.co.uk), which shows the depth of feeling against higher taxes on wealth-generating businesses at such a critical time for the UK economy.

Recent proposals by the Conservatives to reduce the negative impacts of the rise on companies and their hard-working employees deserve some credit. Given that all political parties are counting on the private sector to drive future economic growth, it is only right to look for ways to improve the business environment through cost savings across the public sector.
David Frost, director general, British Chambers of Commerce; Stephen Robertson, director general, British Retail Consortium; John Cridland, deputy director general, Confederation of British Industry; Phil Orford, chief executive, Forum of Private Business; John Walker, national chairman, Federation of Small Businesses; Miles Templeman, director general, Institute of Directors; Kevin Green, chief executive, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation