British jobs will disappear unless red tape is slashed, ministers warn

The employment minister will promise to cut red tape in half over the next few years, amid fears that businesses will move abroad unless more is done to reduce bureaucracy reports The Telegraph.

“We have a simple and straightforward choice,” Mr Grayling will say. “If we want people to have jobs, we have to recognise just how different and competitive the world has become.

“And that means we have to change in response. We need lower taxes and less red tape for business, or jobs will go elsewhere.”

Mr Grayling’s newest initiative is telling firms that they do not have to get their kettles and computers tested for electrical faults so often.

The Department of Work and Pensions will say many companies are duped into having frequent tests by electricians who falsely claim it is necessary under the law. Other previous measures include cutting the number of health and safety inspections by a third, reducing requirements for businesses to report minor accidents and exempting a million self-employed people from the rules altogether.

Business groups have previously criticised the department for not slashing red tape quickly enough. The British Chambers of Commerce said in March that reducing reporting times for minor accidents was “tiny in the grand scheme of things”.