Don't 'whack' business again after treating it as budget cash cow - CBI

The chair of the Confederation of British Industry, Rupert Soames, accused the government of treating employers as a "cash cow" yesterday as he urged ministers to water down plans for workers' rights.

- Heather Stewart

"It's been tough on business. In the budget, business has been the cash cow and it's been milked. Don't go and whack it," Soames warned at the CBI's annual conference in Westminster.

He was speaking shortly before Rachel Reeves took to the stage to face down the backlash against her budget. The chancellor told business leaders she had taken the decision to "draw the line", once and for all, under what she called the "fiction" of the public finance projections left by the Conservatives.

"We've done that now, and businesses can now be certain that we're never going to do a budget like that again," she said. "I'm not coming back with more borrowing or more taxes."