A free market think tank has called for corporation tax to be scrapped as part of reforms to “reboot” Britain
A controversial free-market think tank says that Britain must slash corporation tax to zero, scrap farmers' subsidies and encourage immigration if the UK is to make a success of leaving the European Union.
A new report from the Adam Smith Institute argued that the Brexit vote is a chance to “reboot” Britain, and tackle long-standing issues.
And chief among the recommendations is an end to corporation tax, currently set at 20 per cent.
George Osborne revealed plans to cut the tax to 15 per cent before leaving government, but the think tank has called for it to be dropped entirely in a bid to bolster economic growth.
Read More: Scrap corporation tax – but replace it with something better
The ASI says that the UK should use its immigration policy to better target skilled workers globally.
ASI president Madsen Pirie said: “There are many features of modern Britain that are simply inadequate to serve its needs today. Some have been allowed to continue with occasional tinkering at the edges when a comprehensive overhaul would be more appropriate, and some have not been tackled because of our membership of the EU and the obligation to accept its rules over our own national interest.
"The decision to leave the EU presents the opportunity to abandon the politics of drift and muddle, and to take confident steps to create the kind of country we want ourselves and our children to live in."
In addition to axing corporation tax, the think tank has called for agricultural subsides to be scrapped, citing the example of New Zealand, where it claims that the reduction of subsides from 34 per cent of the total value of production to just two per cent saw farmers become more efficient.
Fishing vessels could also be provided with tradable annual quotas to prevent fish being destroyed after being caught, incentivising UK fishermen to conserve stocks, the institute said.