Tory MPs call for radical programme of pro-competition reform

A new paper from the Free Enterprise Group, The Innovation Economy: Industrial Policy for the 21st Century sets out a radical and comprehensive plan to accelerate growth in the British economy. The market reforms set out in the report would drive entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation. Written by George Freeman MP and Kwasi Kwarteng MP, specific proposals include:

• An entrepreneurial immigration policy to attract the people we need to help create wealth

The government should reform our immigration system to make it easier for entrepreneurs, stop welfare eligibility for immigrants, and auction visas to companies or high net worth individuals at a market rate. This would ensure that the people coming to Britain are those who would add signification value to the economy.

• Radical reforms to promote new entrants and competition in key markets such as banking and energy

Government should introduce reforms to promote new entrants and competition in key markets like banking and energy which have become too dominated by a few small players dependent on government subsidies.

• Break up Network Rail to create a network of integrated regional rail companies

Break up Network Rail into regional franchises merging train and track, with the power to issue bonds and develop railway stations and redundant railway property.

• A New Deal for New Business

A bold new package of tax cuts and deregulation for new start-up and micro businesses. No National Insurance, no VAT and an exemption from big business employment regulations for new and micro businesses.

• Regionalise public sector pay and the minimum wage

The current uniformity of the minimum wage and wage rates in the public sector are preventing regional development through creating imbalances in regional labour markets. Removing this uniformity would help foster growth.

Other proposals in the report include: introducing a growth and competitiveness Duty on all government departments and greater integration of the UKs Aid and Trade missions to unlock new emerging markets.

Commenting on the report, George Freeman, Tory MP for Mid Norfolk, said: "The scale of the crisis inherited from New Labour's Borrowed Boom - bankrupt public finances, a broken model of boom and bust growth and dependency on government, whether in QE or Green Subsidies, demands new thinking. Too much of the debate in Westminster is still shaped by old and redundant dogma and divisions. We need to stop talking as if only the private sector is subject to efficiency and competition. Every part of Government should be having to justify its spending by showing it is delivering 'more for less'. Treasury spending should reward those who deliver and penalise those who don't. We need to do more to unleash an entrepreneurial ethos both in the public and private sector. This requires bold new thinking like a pro-enterprise immigration policy and a New Deal for Business. This is how we build a global vision for developing a competitive economy and succeeding in the global race."