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SHADOW chancellor Ed Balls insisted yesterday that a Labour government must grant big companies a low rate of corporation tax.
In a major policy speech, he also warned of “tough decisions” to cut public spending and the social security budget in order to “balance the books.”
Mr Balls said Labour’s aim was to keep corporation tax at 21 per cent — the lowest rate of any of the G7 wealthiest nations.
But he rejected a further cut to 20 per cent next year, as proposed by Tory Chancellor George Osborne.
Mr Balls urged a business tax system which “promotes long-term investment and supports enterprise and innovation.”
Corporation tax reached 45 per cent under Harold Wilson’s Labour government in 1969, falling in stages to just 28 per cent under Gordon Brown.
The shadow chancellor also pledged in his speech yesterday to tackle tax avoidance by closing loopholes, increasing transparency and introducing tougher “independent scrutiny” of the tax system.