Responding to the CBI’s call for tax incentives and reduced regulation for business, TUC General Secretary John Monks said:

“The CBI’s agenda for manufacturing has a lot to commend it . We look forward to discussing it with them as a follow up to the Chancellor’s challenge on productivity.

“But there is no evidence to suggest that better employment rights have had any effect on the competitiveness of British manufacturing. Complaints of too much red tape are quite simply a red herring.”