Tories call for startup support

Osborne says technology can help UK out of recession

Osborne: Support tech startups

Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne has called on the government to step up support for startups and new technology to drive the UK economy out of recession.

In a speech to Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Osborne called for the government to "play an important part" through some form of co-investment process on the lines of the Prudential’s new UK Companies Financing Fund or a new version of the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, which became today's 3i.

Osborne attacked the government for moving in the opposite direction despite prime minister Gordon Brown's call this month for more investment in new technology by increasing the tax levied on venture capital investment.