Britain’s biggest employers and trade organisations are calling for the UK to match the ambition of the $369bn US Inflation Reduction Act to incentivise green investment.
According to the Institute of Directors, the chancellor should use the Budget to unveil a green industrial strategy of state subsidies on a par with America’s, or risk Britain being left behind.
US president Joe Biden’s confusingly named Inflation Reduction Act offers $369bn for investment in green technology in the US, either from domestic or international companies.
The IoD said a similar scheme was needed in Britain to both “level the playing field” and achieve climate change targets.
The chancellor has also been told by business leaders that he must use next week’s Budget to support faltering investment and economic growth.
Companies are facing a “one-two punch”, with a planned increase in the main rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% coinciding with the end of the two-year “super-deduction” capital investment scheme.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to use next week’s Budget to set out a new capital allowances regime for businesses, to offset the change.
