Proposal 06

The Britain Welcome Programme

Could Britain use a bold tax incentive to attract businesses, investment and jobs from around the world?

Britain should actively compete for international investment.

The Britain Welcome Programme would explore offering qualifying businesses relocating substantial economic activity to the United Kingdom a major initial tax incentive.

0% Corporation Tax for their first 24 months in Britain.

In return, participating businesses would be expected to make a substantial, long-term commitment to the UK.

1. The idea

Qualification could require businesses to:

relocate genuine economic activity to Britain;
create and maintain British-based jobs;
invest in UK premises, equipment or infrastructure;
demonstrate meaningful capital investment; and
maintain substantial operations in Britain for at least ten years.

Measure	Proposed approach
Initial Corporation Tax rate	0%
Duration	First 24 months in Britain
Required commitment	Substantial UK operations for at least ten years
Qualification	Real additional economic activity — not simply a registered office or paper restructuring
Safeguards	HMRC approval, verification and strong anti-avoidance rules

An important admission

I don't know whether this will work.

This idea began as part of the original, unrefined thinking behind Manifesto 1.0. It has not yet undergone the detailed economic, legal or behavioural research necessary to present it as a finished policy — and I don't want to pretend otherwise.

Perhaps 0% Corporation Tax for two years would be a powerful incentive. Perhaps it would be unnecessarily generous. Perhaps businesses would relocate thousands of jobs and invest billions of pounds.

Or perhaps sophisticated multinational companies would restructure their affairs to receive the benefit without creating anything like the economic activity Britain expected in return.

2. The case for exploring it

Britain should not simply wait for international companies to choose us.

We should ask what would make a major manufacturer, technology company, research organisation or international business look at Britain and say:

“That is where we should invest next.”

A company relocating substantial operations could potentially bring much more than Corporation Tax.

It could bring jobs, wages, investment, business rates, supply-chain activity, skills, research, exports, productivity and regional regeneration.

The economic question therefore isn't simply:

“How much Corporation Tax would Britain give up?”

It is also:

“How much additional economic activity would Britain gain that otherwise would never have happened here?”

Would the additional economic value exceed the cost of the incentive?

If the answer is no, we shouldn't do it.

3. The challenge

A credible Britain Welcome Programme would require extremely strong safeguards.

A company should not be able to move a registered office, create a shell company or reorganise paperwork and call that a relocation.

Qualification would have to mean real additional economic activity.

That could require independently verified commitments covering:

UK jobs;
capital investment;
premises;
payroll;
economic activity; and
duration of operation.

Companies could require HMRC approval before receiving the incentive, alongside robust anti-avoidance rules.

4. What if a company takes the incentive and leaves?

This is perhaps the biggest unresolved question.

Manifesto 1.0 currently proposes that the incentive would be clawed back if a company broke its ten-year relocation commitment.

But saying “we'll claw it back” isn't enough. We need to determine exactly how.

One possibility for discussion would be a tapered recoverable tax liability.

Instead of treating the tax saving as an unconditional gift, the Corporation Tax forgone during those first two years could remain subject to a legally enforceable commitment.

The longer the company genuinely remained and invested in Britain, the more of that liability could be extinguished.

Outcome	Possible treatment
Company leaves shortly after receiving the incentive	A substantial amount of the tax saving could become repayable
Company remains and continues investing	The recoverable liability progressively reduces
Company fulfils the ten-year commitment	The obligation disappears

This isn't yet the policy. It's one mechanism worth investigating.

5. The questions I want people to challenge

Is 0% Corporation Tax for 24 months enough to influence an international relocation decision?
Would it be too generous?
Should companies have to create a minimum number of jobs?
Should there be a minimum investment threshold?
How should we define a genuine relocation?
Should the incentive apply only to economic activity genuinely new to Britain?
Should there be a maximum value that any one company can receive?
How do we prevent corporate restructuring designed solely to obtain the tax advantage?
Should the ten-year commitment be longer — or shorter?
How should clawback operate?
What happens if a company becomes insolvent?
What happens following a merger or takeover?
Would Britain ultimately receive more economic value than the Treasury sacrifices in Corporation Tax?

6. A policy to be tested — not defended at all costs

Manifesto 1.0 is not supposed to be an exercise in pretending that one person has every answer.

I don't.

Proposal 06 is deliberately being published as an unresearched starting proposition requiring serious scrutiny.

I want economists to challenge it. I want business owners to challenge it. I want tax specialists to challenge it. I want people who think it's a terrible idea to explain why.

And I want people who think there may be something valuable here to help determine how it could be made better.

If evidence ultimately demonstrates that the proposal would cost Britain more than it generates, change it or abandon it.

If scrutiny demonstrates that a properly designed version could attract investment, employment and economic activity that Britain would otherwise lose to competitors, develop it further.

Good policymaking shouldn't be frightened of being challenged.

7. Proposal 06 — the question

Could a carefully controlled 0% Corporation Tax relocation incentive make Britain one of the world's most attractive places to invest — without allowing businesses to exploit the taxpayer?

I don't know yet.

Let's find out.

Read. Question. Challenge. Debate. Contribute.

Manifesto 1.0 — A New Settlement for Britain