Counter-intuitive. Yes, horrible corporate-management speak, but very apt in these circumstances. The government wants Growth-Growth-Growth, to boost investment in British companies, encourage innovation – in fact, that’s where most of their hopes seek to be pinned. And yet in their first Budget they cut the tax relief designed to encourage investment in the AIM Market, launched thirty years ago to, yes, boost growth. Apparently they (not sure if that’s the Treasury boffins or Chancellor herself) wanted to get rid of the relief completely but decided to just half and limit it. This has, sadly, had pretty much the same effect, as the uncertainty created in both policy (what will they do next?) and investment (money flowing out rather than in and so reducing the share prices of those smaller companies) has, some might say, sealed the fate of the Alternative Investment Market. Unless, of course, a change of heart occurs. Stranger things, and all that.
“Pensions minister: ‘we have created saving pots, but not a pension system’”
The OBR (Office of Budget Responsibility, as opposed to the OBI, often said to be housed in No.11) said this week that pensions were one of the biggest problems to be faced by this and future governments.
