ENTERPRISE will be the engine of Britain’s growth as it emerges from recession, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today.
Mr Brown pledged that his Government would support entrepreneurs investing in the UK, and launched a new investors’ charter and tax framework for business designed to make Britain the best place in Europe for inward investment.
Speaking to a global investment conference in London attended by more than 250 representatives of the world’s biggest brands, the Prime Minister said he was committed to re-establishing Britain as a "low debt economy" and to maintaining London’s position as one of the world’s premier financial centres.
Mr Brown made no reference in his speech to allegations of bullying at 10 Downing Street.
Citing Government investment of £1 billion in superfast broadband and £14 billion in transport infrastructure, he offered his audience of business leaders the "guarantee" that "we will always support enterprise as the engine of economic growth".
And he said: "In Britain we are committed to financial stability, to restoring strong and solid public finances as the recovery gathers pace, committed to our decision as a nation to invest for the long term in the growth sectors of the future and committed to creating the best possible environment in which private enterprise and wealth creators can thrive.
"This is at the heart of the growth plan we have set out for Britain - a plan built on maintaining stability through low inflation and low interest rates, of re-establishing Britain as a low-debt economy and of our commitment, now enshrined in law, to halve the deficit by 2014."
Mr Brown said a range of tax measures and "firm and tight" limits on the growth of public spending were already in place to bring Britain’s debt down.
And he said: "We know that for Britain a prosperous future must be built not only on sound economics but on investment in the industries of the future, of leadership in the new science and engineering breakthroughs that are today shaping tomorrow’s world."
He stressed that the UK would not back away from its position as a global financial centre because of the turmoil in the markets over the past two years.
"Despite the shockwaves of the last 18 months, we are committed to maintaining London’s central position as a world-leading financial centre, remaining competitive and attracting the best talent," he said.
