Lib Dems pledge to scrap DTI and cut red tape

The Lib Dems have claimed that business could be set free from red tape and excessive regulation from Whitehall and Brussels under proposals unveiled at the party's annual conference.

Under the proposals, launched by Lib Dem Shadow Trade & Industry spokesman Vince Cable, the DTI would be scrapped as it "cannot continue to operate as poacher and gamekeeper", promoting business and protecting consumers, the party said.

A Department of the Consumer, bringing together the principal consumer protection agencies such as the Office of Fair trading, the Competition Commission and the Food Standards agency, would ensure the market operates fairly and in the interests of consumers, Dr Cable said.

He also rejected Tory suggestions, which were later championed in a robust fashion by a tabloid newspaper, that the Lib Dems had become a socialist party which was more socialist in character than the Labour Party.

"The Liberal Democrats have never been a socialist party. We have always believed in setting people free, not cutting them down to size. This applies to business too. We must resist measures which strangle business with red tape from Whitehall and Brussels or with Byzantine tax regulations: the hallmarks of a Brown economy," Dr Cable said.

"The Liberal Democrats are not a corporatist party. Setting business free - to make money or to go bust - means we reject the begging bowl culture of industrial - or agricultural - welfare state.

"The DTI, and its army of Sir Humphrey's, should be scrapped. The £3.4 billion slush fund the government has legislated for to provide unspecified industrial assistance, or the hundreds of millions spent each year subsidising arms exports, can surely be better spent."

Dr Cable said that money would be better spent on education, the "real driver of a modern knowledge economy".

(gmcg)