The stereotypical accountant is conservative with a small ‘c’ and it would appear with a large ‘C’ too, if a new survey of 1,246 bean counters is anything to go by.

Nearly 70% of accountants said that David Cameron was more likely than Gordon Brown to cut the red tape afflicting small businesses.  The research conducted for KashFlow, the online book-keeping software provider, also revealed that 39% of accountants believe that red tape is a major factor in holding back growth for SMEs.

Since Tory policy remains a little elusive, it’s hard to see what justification accountants have for favouring Mr Cameron to get out his scissors and cut through bureaucracy, much of which is derived from Europe.

As Anatole Kaletsky said in The Times after the Conservative Party conference last autumn:

The Tories constantly denounce the red tape and over-regulation supposedly stifling British business and making it internationally uncompetitive. Yet they have promised a panoply of environmental taxes and regulations that would be hugely costly to business and for which there is not the slightest possibility of gaining international support at least outside the EU.

2007 is the year in which David Cameron has pledged to flesh out his party’s policy and really start to challenge Labour.  It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say on red tape.

Tags: david cameron, legislation, SME, small business, kashflow