David Cameron calls civil servants 'enemies of enterprise'

• PM in strongly worded attack on bureaucracy
• Small firms invited to bid for major public contracts

• Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 March 2011 19.33 GMT
• Article history

David Cameron promised to cut bureaucracy. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

David Cameron has pledged to confront the "enemies of enterprise" in Whitehall and town halls across the country, attacking what he called the "mad" bureaucracy that holds back entrepreneurs.

The prime minister, who was criticised for failing to outline economic growth plans after last year's autumn spending review, moved to recover ground by promising to place the promotion of enterprise at the heart of the budget on 23 March.

In one of the strongest attacks by a prime minister on the civil service, Cameron yesterday made clear he shared the frustration of Tony Blair, who famously claimed in 1999 that he bore "scars on my back" from those opposed to his reforms.

The prime minister, who said that enterprise was about morals as well as markets, listed three "enemies of enterprise' in a speech at the Conservative spring forum in Cardiff:
• "The bureaucrats in government departments who concoct those ridiculous rules and regulations that make life impossible, particularly for small firms."
• "The town hall officials who take for ever with those planning decisions that can be make or break for a business – and the investment and jobs that go with it."
• "The public sector procurement managers who think that the answer to everything is a big contract with a big business and who shut out millions of Britain's small- and medium-sized companies from a massive potential market."
The prime minister added: "Every regulator, every official, every bureaucrat in government has got to understand that we cannot afford to keep loading costs on to business because frankly they cannot take any more. And if I have to pull these people into my office to argue this out myself and get them off the backs of business then believe me, I will do it."
The chancellor, George Osborne, who used his speech on Saturday to announce the creation of 10 enterprise zones, will unveil changes in the budget to give small- and medium- sized firms opportunities to bid for large government contracts.
"We're throwing open the bidding process to every single business in our country – a massive boost for small businesses, because we want them to win at least a quarter of these deals," Cameron said.
The speech showed the influence of Andrew Cooper, Downing Street's new director of strategy, who starts his new job on Monday. Cooper is said to be drawing up a vision for the future to show that the government has plans that go beyond spending cuts.
The prime minister said he was optimistic about the future because Britain is the home of innovative entrepreneurs. He then launched a staunch defence of his recent trip to the Gulf, on which he was accompanied by 36 British business leaders, including eight from the defence and aerospace sector.
"I know some people are disdainful about [selling Britain to the world]," he said.
"They see me loading up a plane with businesspeople and say: 'That's not statesmanship, that's salesmanship'. I say this: attack all you want, but do you think the Germans and the French and the Americans are all sitting at home waiting for business to fall into their lap?"