Proud to buy British says Lib Dem leader Clegg

6.38.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 24th Oct 2008

Nick Clegg MP

To help kick-start the economy, consumers should be proud to 'buy British' and 'buy local', to help stimulate demand for UK businesses. Said Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg MP, "Economic recovery starts at home" and he called for non-food products manufactured in the UK to be labelled accordingly.

Mr Clegg launched a plan with Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP, to give immediate help to UK businesses. Liberal Democrat plans to cut taxes and lower interest rates would have the most effect if that extra money provided to people is spent to stimulate demand for small British businesses during the recession.

Other measures to directly help small businesses include:

• Pushing for a substantial cut in interest rates to lower the cost of loans and investment

• Immediately overhauling the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme to improve government support for business loans

• Banks receiving government financial assistance adopting a new code of conduct on rearranging business credit and overdrafts

• Developing with energy companies an assistance package for small businesses struggling with high energy bills

Nick Clegg will also set out longer term proposals to create a more a balanced economy to ensure more stable growth in the future, involving massive investment in green infrastructure and the creation of thousands of new 'green-collar' jobs.

He said: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and are crucial to bringing Britain through the recession. Our package of measures will give them greater protection against the consequences of bankers' mistakes.

"Restoring growth comes from putting money into people's pockets, through interest rate cuts and tax cuts. To have the greatest effect that money needs to be spent here, stimulating demand for small UK businesses.

"We must use this opportunity to create a new economy, which is more resilient, green, and less reliant on financial services. The City has been treated as the master of the economy for too long. It is time for it to be the servant once more."