§ Reducing the Government's borrowing requirement will benefit business by ensuring that the recovery is sustained, but, as I said in my Mansion House speech last October, the Government are determined to keep our policies under continuous review to ensure that British business has the backing it needs to compete in world markets. This is particularly true of our tax policies.
§ Britain already has the lowest rate of tax on business profits in the industrialised world, and we have a personal tax system which makes it attractive for entrepreneurs and managers to live and work in Britain. We intend to see that continue.
§ Britain has had an outstanding record over recent years in attracting investment from overseas—indeed, we have attracted no less than a third of all foreign investment into the European Community over the last few years—but we cannot be complacent. With the advent of the single market, the competition in Europe to secure inward investment has become ever more intense. So my Budget sets out to ensure that our business tax regime retains its clear competitive edge.