2021 Manifesto FINAL DRAFT - Flipbook - Page 26
Too often, politicians view small
business simply as a cash cow –
an easy target for taxation.
That kind of thinking is simplistic
and unfair. Businesspeople are
often the unsung heroes of our
society. Not only does enterprise
help to build and heat our homes,
it provides us with food, clean
water, sanitation, electricity,
entertainment, leisure,
healthcare, transport, in fact
everything we need to flourish
and enjoy a decent standard of
living. More than that, business
provides jobs and work. Work
allows people to support
themselves and their families, to
contribute to the well-being of
their community through their
output, to improve their mental
health and self-esteem, to form
social connections and increase
social capital, to have a sense of
purpose and can provide a huge
amount of satisfaction.
Helping the right kinds of
enterprise to do the right thing
needs to be an absolute priority
for politicians.
Supporting small
businesses
Small businesses are already the
backbone of our economy. In the
few years after the economic
crash of 2008, more than eight of
every ten new jobs that were
created were in small businesses
and SMEs already provide the
vast majority of jobs in the West
Midlands. Their presence helps to
make our neighbourhoods
distinctive and places that people
enjoy living in.
But there’s so much more we can
do to create the conditions in
which small businesses can start
up, survive and thrive – from
focusing WMCA budgets on
support for SMEs and co-ops, to
working more on regional and
local infrastructure, including
main roads; getting serious about
ensuring fast and reliable
broadband; ensuring an
accessible and affordable supply
of a variety of industrial and office
units; and consolidating the
current confusing array of support
services into a well-advertised
one-stop shop for support around
Economy
Business heroes