Politicians competing for power have been warned that “unless we shrink the state, the state will shrink the economy".
Miles Templeman, director general at the Institute of Directors, has also accused all three main parties of failing to acknowledge the severity of spending cuts necessary to get the UK’s ballooning public deficit under control.
“We're a week from the General Election but we're still years from bringing the deficit and the size of the Government under control,” he says. “If the truth be told, no political party is advocating the scale of spending and deficit reduction we need, not just for the next few years, but for the next decade.
He added: "If British business is to compete effectively in the 21st century we need a fundamental root and branch reform of the state. Government has got to get smaller and better. Unless we shrink the state, the state will shrink the economy".