The UK is a less attractive place to invest, Digby Jones warns

The CBI wants Chancellor Gordon Brown to bring in a �1bn package of reforms, including tax changes to make the UK more attractive as a business centre.

Any more increases in tax would do "immense damage" to relations between government and business, it warned.

The government should "sit up and take notice", said the CBI's Digby Jones.

Budget wish-list

The CBI's director general warned that top business decision makers were starting to say that the UK is declining as an investment location.

"Trying to shoot the messenger will not change what's happening on the business frontline," Mr Jones said.

In its Budget wish-list, the CBI also said it wanted the Chancellor to encourage innovation with a further extension of the tax credit for research and development.