SMALL businesses in Huntingdonshire have warned Chancellor Alistair Darling to lay off SMEs in his March 12 Budget. Malcolm Lyons, Huntingdonshire chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: The year has already begun with the threat of a reces

SMALL businesses in Huntingdonshire have warned Chancellor Alistair Darling to lay off SMEs in his March 12 Budget.

Malcolm Lyons, Huntingdonshire chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "The year has already begun with the threat of a recession, which is difficult enough for small businesses to deal with, without having to contend with more obstacles put in the way by the Government.

"This wilting relationship between small businesses and the Government needs to be reinvigorated, and March 12 will announce whether spring is in the air or whether frosty relations continue."

Fresh from success in persuading the Chancellor to change his proposals on capital gains tax, the FSB is making recommendations on everything from the impact of the closure of postal services to the importance of keeping trade local, which will also be the cause of a mass lobby of small businesses descending on Parliament on March 13.

John Wright, FSB national chairman, said: "It cannot be stressed strongly enough just how important small businesses are to the UK economy. It is vital they are given more help to innovate and prosper. More hindrance will only see them, and the UK, shoved further backwards.