Liberal Democrats focus on North West business vote

THE Liberal Democrats view their shadow chancellor Vince Cable as one of their secret weapons in the forthcoming election as they increasingly target the business vote.

The party’s leader Nick Clegg chose to launch the party’s national ‘Enterprise in a Fair Society’ business manifesto  on a visit to Daresbury Innovation Centre, near Runcorn, yesterday.

The manifesto backs easier access to investment for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) that are looking to expand from ‘local enterprise funds’.

The party has also expressed its intention to create a new network of regional stock exchanges to help rebuild the economy and rebalance it away from an over-reliance on funding from the City of London.

Mr Clegg praised the performance of the Liberal Democrat’s shadow chancellor Vince Cable who appeared earlier this week on a televised debate with Chancellor Alastair Darling as well as the Conservative’s shadow chancellor George Osborne.

He said: “This manifesto is all about repositioning the British economy so that it is no longer based around London’s square mile and instead is centred around the whole of Britain.

“One of the things that has been obvious to me for some time – and it has been reinforced talking to businesses based on this campus in Daresbury – is that bank loans are still not available.

“As far as businesses in the North West are concerned, a bank which won’t lend to them is about as effective as a body without blood.

“This manifesto backs easier access to investment funds for innovative new businesses.

“What’s more, we want to change the rules governing take-overs so that companies no longer buy British companies and then sell parts of them off with total disregard for the impact on jobs.

“And we also want to create regional stock exchanges.

“The money that is used in these – and which is then generated by them – should then stay in the same region.

“These stock exchanges would also facilitate greater private investment in those regions.

“And all the parts of this manifesto are about maintaining and safeguarding jobs in the North West and other regions.”

The Liberal Democrat’s prospective Parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, Dr Jo Crotty, also called for Warrington to be considered as a home to one of a new network of regional stock exchanges.

Dr Crotty, a university economics lecturer, said: “If we are to put the North West back on the road to recovery it is vital, with banks still reeling from the credit crunch, that small businesses like Calon Associates and BioEDEN – that I have visited today – have good access to equity share funds from investors in our area.

“During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century many  commercial centres had local stock exchanges to create a market for local equity funds.

“In the 21st century the trading floor is likely to be virtual but it is more vital than ever to bring together innovative small businesses with informed local investors in an efficient way.

“The proposal could see a network of local listings that create an equity share market for each of the region’s main business centres giving an alternative to bank debt for the North West’s small and medium sized businesses as we come out of the downturn.”