英国首相Burnham与财相Healey预算案前会见商界领袖，仅听取税负意见、未宣布任何具体政策

Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey will host British business leaders as part of pre-Budget engagement amid nervousness about government tax plans.

Both the prime minister and chancellor will hold separate meetings with senior figures Tuesday morning, in the midst of repeated warnings made to the government about high costs for businesses in the UK and concern within the business community over potential tax increases.

Burnham will host a reception with leading entrepreneurs and CEOs in Downing Street, to discuss the need for government and business to work together in order to promote economic growth, officials said.

Healey has a breakfast meeting scheduled with leaders from the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors including from the Co-op supermarket group and supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc. He will also host representatives of small business and high street trade across the UK.

The chancellor will use the meeting to address concerns over the high costs of business and recruitment ahead of his Oct/ 28 Budget. He will seek input as to how government could offer breathing space for businesses struggling with costs.

British fashion tycoon Paul Smith became the latest business leader to warn the government about high costs on Monday, telling Sky News his firm had been forced to find £1.4 million ($1.8 million) “overnight” when Healey’s predecessor, Rachel Reeves, had increased employers’ National Insurance Contributions.

“What we want is National insurance, please, to go back where it was if they can afford that and also tax free shopping. I mean, those are two very simple things that would help the economy across the country,” Smith — fashion designer and luxury brand founder — told Sky. Healey has said he wants to address the costs facing firms.

At the governing Labour Party’s annual conference last month, executives from leading companies told Bloomberg they were concerned at what they perceived to be a lack of engagement from the government ahead of the Budget.

They said the vision set out by Burnham and Healey suggested the government’s focus would be on support for smaller high-street firms and state-backed investment in industrial sectors, with bigger businesses and the financial services industry facing a higher tax burden.

Healey met with banking bosses last week and said he hadn’t yet come to a decision about whether to impose more taxes on the sector.