But so far they haven’t yielded any dividends for the government. The outcome, far from being strong foundations for future growth and development, has instead been surging inflation, stalled growth and rising employment. The retail price index is currently standing at 5.1 per cent more than double the government’s target of two per cent.

Plan A is ‘clearly hurting but not yet working’ and the ideas bank is empty too as they say there is no plan B. For there to be growth business big and small needs confidence and that confidence is ultimately linked to the consumer and how they feel. For them to feel confident, the government needs to look confident and look as though they know what it is doing. That’s the problem. The opportunity of the budget was for them to present a clear growth strategy plan to inspire the economy and business and consumers. It hasn’t delivered.

The spin beforehand was that this was going to be a budget for business and for enterprise, as we’d heard all about how they would tackle those ‘enemies of enterprise’ who were holding us all back. But it turned out these enemies of enterprise were pregnant women and fathers wanting to take paternity leave though Mr Osborne has been shamed into dropping the plans – for now. Freelancers hoped that he would at least abolish or reform IR35 but instead he decided that ‘abolition would put substantial revenue at risk’, despite HMRC admitting that it doesn’t actually know how big this revenue stream is.

All businesses will welcome the cuts in corporation tax. In 1997 corporation tax was 33 per cent Labour reduced it to 30 per cent, and then in 2008 down to 28 per cent. There is also the small profits rate which has been reduced to 20 per cent (as was announced last year). The Tories have just reduced the main rate to 26 per cent and are pledging to reduce it down to 23 per cent by 2014. It is true that in Ireland it only 12.5 per cent, but in Japan it is 41 per cent, France 33 per cent, Germany 30 per cent, India 33 per cent and the US 35 per cent alongside state taxes, so how low we need to cut it to be competitive and with whom is up for discussion. Corporation tax is a tax on the profits of limited companies, so it will do nothing to the thousands of sole traders and unincorporated business. Neither will it really be of great help to those small firms struggling to survive – you need to be profitable to take advantage of the rate cut. That isn’t to say, though, that Labour shouldn’t be backing a lower rate of corporation tax. It should, as it is a way of helping firms keep money in house for development, growth and jobs. But it is not the only way to help firms, and it isn’t going to be something that will encourage people to start new businesses. The cut benefits big profitable companies.

Merging national insurance and income tax

The idea of combining NI and income tax it is a bold positive step, even though it is only a consultation at present. Labour should push for this to happen in case the Tories lose their nerve. The system of tax is over 100 years old, if we want to build a strong, flexible economy that recognises that people will hold multiple jobs, do some periods as freelance and run their own small businesses then it needs to make both the tax and benefit system support such a future, not hinder it. It is not a short-term project, it will be begun by the Tories but we should expect it will be completed by Labour in government.

Indeed, sensible reform of the tax system, if done properly, will close a significant number of tax loopholes and the need for compliance procedures such as IR35.

Enterprise Zones

If the review of NI and income tax shows some forward thinking the introduction of enterprise zones is opposite. Out go regional development agencies (run by the wrong people), in come Enterprise Zones (to be run by the right Tory people). Twenty-one Enterprise Zones this time, they delivered for investment banking in Canary Wharf last time but their longer term effect elsewhere is hard to find. Accompanying it is a lot of 1980s-style rhetoric on ‘enterprise’. This may go down well at Bullingdon and Conservative clubs but this same rhetoric in the country at large doesn’t hearken people back to a golden era, but instead reminds them of the unemployment, poverty and industrial that accompanied it last time.

What should Labour’s response be to this new or retrofitted Tory vision of enterprise Britain?

The Tories think that red tape is employee rights and that they should be cut. Labour needs to be the party for both those who run small firms and those that work in them. Labour should be designing policies that will ensure that those who work in small firms aren’t second-class citizens in the workplace. Large firms and the public sector may provide greater benefits to their staff because of their size but all employees pay the same tax, so can it be right that depending on who your employer is that you have fewer employment rights? It is true that employment right don’t come for free, particularly for smaller firms but they are a principle that we need to stand by. The question is how can we preserve employee rights but not let the burden of them fall fully and disproportionately on the small businesses?

Secondly, the Tories view the public and private sectors as being two distinct entities that exist in isolation of each other. Deep down they believe that you don’t really need a public sector and that the services that we enjoy and use are the product of a prosperous economy.

Labour should make the argument that strong and efficient public services aren’t the just result of a successful economy but the foundations on which one can be built. Businesses flourish with good public services as a backdrop. People don’t start working for themselves out of desperation because they can’t find permanent work, but from opportunity and a positive attitude to risk. Make no mistake, it is a huge risky jump starting your own business. People don’t leave comfortable jobs to risk all on a new venture if the schools, hospitals and public services are crumbling around. Better play safe and stay drawing a salary than strike out on your own.

The budget was a chance for the Tories to win over small business and deliver for them. But it got only a small cheer from them, but unsurprisingly a big cheer from big business. As such small business remains unconvinced and disappointed. Despite the Tories attempts at dressing themselves in the rhetoric of enterprise, they haven’t won the argument with small business, far from it. This is an opportunity for Labour to do so.