Unless Boris and Dominic Cummings are playing a game of 4D chess unintelligible to neither man nor beast, the Prime Minister's "do or die" promise to leave the EU is looking increasingly like the bluff most assumed.
Next stop: extension then general election. Which is why the Prime Minister's Conference speech – like that of Labour's and Lib Dems – felt more like a pitch to lead the country.
As such, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid revealed the Conservative Party's most concrete policies impacting entrepreneurs, including:
On Post-Brexit Trade: "We’ll be able to pursue a genuinely independent trade policy. We’ll be able to replace inefficient EU programmes with better, home-grown alternatives. And from retail to green tech, we’ll have the opportunity to design smarter, more flexible regulation."
On Red Tape: "To help us do that, I will launch a Brexit Red Tape Challenge to help identify EU regulations that we can improve or remove. Liberating our entrepreneurs, small businesses and consumers from the burden of over-bearing bureaucracy, wherever we see it. Doing what a good pro-business government does."
On the Minimum Wage: "Over the next five years, we will make the UK the first major economy in the world to end low pay altogether. To do that, I am setting a new target for the National Living Wage: Raising it to match two-thirds of median earnings. That means, on current forecasts, this ambitious plan will bring the National Living Wage up to £10.50, giving four million people a well-earned pay rise."
On Broadband: "We have rolled out superfast broadband but we have fallen behind many European countries on the next generation of technology. And as we catch-up I don’t want any part of our country to fall behind others. So I can announce we are committing £5billion to support full-fibre rollout to the hardest to reach 20% of the country."
Top Tier
Hot off the press, we've just released our latest Policy Update on recent changes to the Tier 2 Visa. It's good news for entrepreneurs, with a significant expansion of the shortage occupation list, including for civil and electrical engineers, web design/developers, software developers, biologists and bio-chemical scientists.
This means for these and other jobs there's no need to advertise for 28 days before recruiting outside the UK; no need to meet the minimum income threshold (£30,000); reduced visa fees; and a priority if the visa cap is reached.
You can read Sam Dumitriu's full update here, and sign up to future policy updates here. And if you work at an organisation with expertise and want to partner on these updates, get in touch.
The Other Cameron
Mental health is a challenge for the majority of Britain’s entrepreneurs. Over half of entrepreneurs have suffered anxiety or panic attacks, nearly 7 in 10 report sleep problems, and 53% of founders say that building their business has been one of the toughest times of their lives. That's why the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship is convening a roundtable later in the month to consider the scope of the challenge and what role government could play in better supporting entrepreneurs and their employees.
We have Dr Lisa Cameron, SNP Spokesperson on Mental Health and Guy Tolhurst, Founder of Intelligent Partnership and Adviser to The Entrepreneurs Network speaking. You can read more about Guy's story here, and watch the stories of Michelle Morgan, Nick Hussey, Kate Lester and Bonnie Chung, as part of Guy's Mindful Investor initiative.
Read the whole e-bulletin here, and sign up for the e-bulletin here.