Syra Deschan Naidu is carefully considering which political party has demonstrated support for small businesses post-Brexit, which is influencing her decision for who to vote for this Thursday.
The 45-year-old business owner from London launched skincare, haircare and beard care brand Disruptor London with his friend Juan Jimenez Anca, 43, in 2021. The brand strives to be as environmentally conscious as possible when it comes to its operations, with Naidu saying it is “focused on sustainability and reframing the narrative of consumption.”
As a result, the pair are likely to support the Greens in Thursday's general election. I“Our voting decision will be heavily influenced by each party’s position on climate change, economic recovery and supporting small business post-Brexit.”
“Based on the joint manifesto rankings of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth [which weighs up which is the best party to choose in terms of protecting the planet]The Green Party emerged as the front-runner, scoring 39 out of 40 points. Their strong environmental policies and commitment to green jobs align closely with our business values.”
But the Liberal Democrats also received a high score of 31.5 points. He added: “They offer a good balance between climate action and economic recovery solutions. Labour, on 20.5 points, shows a moderate approach but lacks a comprehensive strategy for tackling the challenges, particularly those related to Brexit.”
“The Conservatives, by just five points, seem the least aligned with our priorities. Given our voting history and current priorities, we lean towards the Greens or the Liberal Democrats, parties that have the strongest commitment to environmental issues while also addressing economic issues to varying degrees.”
Rising costs and inflation, increasing taxes and regulation, and reduced consumer spending have been hallmarks of the past few years for the UK's estimated 5.5 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
One of the big problems for Naidu is that neither of the major parties has put forward a comprehensive plan to repair the “damage” caused to small businesses by Brexit.
He said this was a “significant concern” for them as business owners, adding: “Any final decision will balance their commitment to climate action with practical considerations of the viability of their business, while also taking into account strategic voting based on local constituency trends.”
Joe Williams, who runs Jocko gift shop in Nuneaton town centre, is also unsure who to vote for and described himself as a “swing vote”.
But she said she was leaning towards the Reform Party, adding that Nigel Farage's party “seems to have small businesses in mind”.
“I haven't decided who I'm going to vote for in this election,” said Williams, 48. “I've always been a swing voter and this year looks to be no different.”
“In many cases, people are voting for ‘leaders’ and not parties, which makes the decision very difficult for me.
“If you read the business manifesto it says the reformers will abolish business tax and I am clearly in favour of that so it’s a difficult decision to make. [but] I am concerned about what taxes will be introduced to replace this lost revenue.”
Mr Williams said he believed the Reform Party's plans to increase the VAT threshold from £90,000 to £150,000, and increase the corporation tax exemption to £100,000, were “great for small businesses with low profits to keep their profits within their local area”, and said plans for a 4% online delivery tax were also noteworthy.
She added that she had considered voting for the Green Party but was hesitant about the idea of a £15-an-hour minimum wage.
She added: “While this seems like a good idea on its face, the burden will fall on small businesses, who are already stretched to the limit and have no support to cover these additional costs.”
“What I've been looking for is what support is out there for business owners like me. Directors and managers who put in countless hours to keep their businesses afloat are often earning far less than minimum wage or the wages of the staff they employ just to get through these difficult times. This is often out of passion for the businesses they have nurtured.
“We cannot continue to impose additional costs of doing business on small businesses, and many of them will go out of business if we do.”
Speaking of the Labour Party, she said: “If Labour doesn't freeze corporation tax or put an age cap on the minimum wage, it will only make the problems for small business worse.”
“It's natural to consider cost when searching for new employees, for example due to additional training costs. Without a cap, I think people who have been waiting for a salary increase will look at younger employees differently, who have years more experience but are still being paid the same salary.”
What plans do the political parties have for small businesses?
Below are some of the proposals each party has put forward for small businesses.
conservatives:
- Abolish National Insurance (NI) for the self-employed and cut workers' NI contributions by a further 2p
- Improve reporting of late payments, promote digital invoicing and give more power to the Small Business Commissioner
- We will invest in energy, transport and digital infrastructure to help businesses grow, including plans to bring high-speed internet to more than 80% of the country and invest £4.7 billion in smaller cities in the North and Midlands.
- Expanding tax-free child care to support business owners and the self-employed
Labor:
- The party says it has no plans to raise taxes or national insurance contributions for workers.
- It will cap corporate tax at 25% and support the growth of small businesses through capital investment allowances.
- Abolish zero-hours contracts, ban fire-and-rehire practices and introduce a true living wage
- We will be forming a Small Business Export Taskforce, working with the Federation of Small Businesses, to identify practical ways to simplify the process and provide the right level of guidance to businesses.
reform:
- Eliminate VAT from energy bills
- Raise the minimum profit threshold for corporation tax to £100,000 and reduce the corporation tax rate to 20% (eventually to 15%)
- Abolish the existing IR35 rules
- Eliminate business taxes on downtown small businesses.
LDP
- Reviewing IR35 reform to ensure the self-employed are treated fairly
- Invest at least 3% of GDP in research and development by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2034 (with a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups)
- Lowering trade barriers to promote trade between small and medium-sized enterprises
- Replace the apprenticeship levy with a broader training levy
Green Party
- The minimum wage would be increased to £15 an hour regardless of age, with the burden on small businesses offset by reducing national insurance payments.
- Guarantee equal employment rights for all workers, including gig economy workers, from day one
- Preventing businesses that repeatedly violate employment, data protection and tax laws from operating
- Increase National Insurance contributions to 8% for people earning over £50,270