Campaign to stop NICs increase

The “big cheeses” of business and employers organisations have launched a petition to say "No" to the rise in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) planned for April 2011.

The petition is signed by the heads of the British Chambers of Commerce, British Retail Consortium, Confederation of British Industry, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Forum of Private Business, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors and Recruitment and Employment Confederation. It will be sure to exert considerable pressure on the Government to back down ahead of the General Election. 

They urge the Goverment to work with business groups to find alternative ways to close the UK's budget deficit - beginning with a credible plan to reduce inefficiency in public sector spending. Adding that “Any Government has to realise that additional taxes on businesses, especially small- and medium-sized companies, must be a last resort, not an easy way forward.”