Britain today unveiled a raft of measures aimed at strengthening competition policy and raising productivity.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr Gordon Brown, said under the proposals, competition policy would be made independent of government, cartels would be subject to fines and competition rules would also be extended to the public sector.
Mr Brown was also expected to announce at the official presentation of the reforms later today that business executives found guilty of running price-fixing cartels could face prison sentences.
"Basically we're taking competition decisions, merger decisions out of the hands of politicians and just like we did with the Bank of England we're making this decision making process independent of politicians and therefore more stable and more certain," he told BBC radio.
Mr Brown said the reforms would also deepen Britain's enterprise culture by cutting capital gains tax and taxes levied on small businesses. He said the measures would make it easier to start a business in Britain and would encourage investment.
Insolvency laws would also be revised and sales tax, or value added tax (VAT), would be simplified to create a flat rate for the smallest companies.
"Our aim in this term, having built on a platform of stability and employment creation, is to raise productivity growth in this country and therefore the prosperity levels for the whole of the population of this country," Mr Brown said.
AFP