The government should be helping, not hindering, start-ups

I’m hugely enjoying meeting the finalists for The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards. This year’s bumper entry was strong on paths to decarbonisation — as you’d expect for the new era of climate action — and on ventures rocket-boosted by the pandemic, whether designed to take pressure off the NHS or in the ‘edutech’ field of online learning. By contrast, ‘fintech’ and consumer apps were less prominent than in earlier years, reflecting changed priorities. And come to think of it, common to all the entrants I’ve talked to so far is that not one has said: ‘We couldn’t have done it without the help we’ve had from government.’

I’m prompted to this observation by two news items on adjacent pages of Tuesday’s Financial Times. The first reveals that the Treasury (on the recommendation of the Department for Work and Pensions, from whose budget it comes) is planning to scrap the New Enterprise Allowance, which has provided £1,000-plus start-up grants, plus mentoring, for some 250,000 benefit recipients since it was launched by David Cameron in 2011.