STANDING UP FOR THE CITY It’s time for the government to rethink its corporation tax hike

NEWS that swathes of investment is set to be shelved following the introduction of the government’s corporation tax hike is hardly surprising. Companies and business groups big and small have long cautioned that this would happen as a result of the six percentage point tax increase last month, which came in at the same time as the cut in support for energy bills.

Leading entrepreneur James Dyson said at the start of this year that companies will simply choose to transfer jobs and invest elsewhere. The fact that the BDO survey says that some firms are already thinking about leaving the UK should, again, come as no surprise.

We can’t say we weren’t warned. Hiking corporation tax was always a wrong-headed decision. It will continue to hurt investment and the private sector and hold back economic growth.

As Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, previously put it: “It is killing the goose that lays the golden egg”. While we fortunately look set to avoid a recession this year, growth isn’t going to be impressive, and the UK economy needs all the help it can get to make sure it stays healthy. Hunt recently hinted that tax cuts could be on the horizon if and when inflation comes down. But better than expected government borrowing figures –which showed that it borrowed £13bn less than expected last year –means the government has enough room for tax cuts now. It should look to move

LONDON IN WONDERLAND Exhibitors were busy putting the finishing touches to their gardens yesterday ahead of this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, which kicks off today sooner rather than hold them back as any sort of pre-election giveaway in the future.

It should be striving for a corporation tax rate no higher than 20 per cent to make sure it keeps us competitive on a global stage.

Many firms and investors are still bullish about the UK, and rightly so. Britain remains one of the best places in the world to do business. But it could be more attractive still.

What The Other Papers Say This Morning

The Financial Times

THE CITY VIEW CHINA BANS MICRON’S PRODUCTS FROM KEY INFRASTRUCTURE

China said that US chipmaker Micron Technology’s products posed “serious network security risks” as it banned operators of key infrastructure from buying them.

THE GUARDIAN FACEBOOK TO BE FINED £648M FOR MISHANDLING USER INFORMATION

Facebook is to be fined more than €746m (£648m) and ordered to suspend data transfers to the US as an Irish regulator prepares to punish the firm for its handling of user information.

THE TELEGRAPH TECH ANALYSTS QUIT EN MASSE AMID TURMOIL AT CITY INVESTMENT BANK

A team of tech analysts have quit en masse at City investment bank Berenberg in the latest sign of turbulence. The analysts are set to move to rival Cantor Fitzgerald, sources said.