Andrew Barclay is an Onward Policy Fellow and co-author of The British Entrepreneur. He is also founder of YOPA.

“No one is questioning that we need to see the taxes rise to really help fund our public services.”

Those were the words Rain Newton-Smith, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), used about Labour’s anti-business Budget. Rather than voice the full-throated opposition felt by businesses large and small, the CBI chief appeared to accept the premise that companies should be taxed more heavily to fund expenditure on public services. Such a quiescent and passive approach is hardly likely to deter the Chancellor from returning with future tax rises to be imposed on British business.

It stands in stark contrast to the approach adopted by the farming sector about the impact of Labour’s Inheritance Tax changes. Farmers have, both through the National Farmers Union and individually, taken the fight to Labour head-on, attempting to protect the land that generations of their families have toiled on.

Many of the bigger businesses wooed by Labour before the last general election seem captivated by the Party’s pitch that they will be pro-business and pro-growth. What will be interesting will be how many businesses become more vocal as the cost of Labour’s tax and regulatory changes becomes clearer.

But that also leaves entrepreneurs – especially those running micro businesses or side hustles – without an effective advocate for them to make the case that it is precisely these nascent enterprises that could be powerhouses of tomorrow. Every large business, after all, started as a small one.

Business leaders are putting their faith in the Government’s other proposals and initiatives that they claim will increase growth. The Budget made scant reference to growth, in contrast with what Labour said before the election.

However, the Chancellor did raise at the same CBI conference the five areas that she said would deliver growth: resetting relations with the EU, encouraging those out of work into employment, increasing investment in infrastructure, pension fund changes, and planning reform, The problem with banking on these changes to make Britain the fastest growing economy in the G7 is that there appears to be little of substance that is planned or that could have an impact on productivity, competitiveness or innovation.

In the “warm words but no action” category comes resetting EU relations and incentivising people back into the workforce. Will either of these happen in any meaningful way or deliver something concrete that could revitalise growth? Seems unlikely.

Combining local authorities’ pension pots into much larger funds so they can invest in more British infrastructure projects might sound a good idea but not if you are a pensioner reliant on those pots for your retirement and those infrastructure projects end up like HS2. Nor is it clear how these kinds of investments will drive growth.

Similarly, the Government’s current plans for capital investment are focused on hospital and schools, rather than transport or digital networks. Again: how will that improve Britain’s growth prospects?

That then leaves planning reform where Labour’s bold words have yet to be matched by a clear plan to make it easier and faster to build the houses, data centres, and nuclear power stations the country needs. There is, self-evidently, a need to tackle this.

One of the complaints I heard from the entrepreneurs we interviewed for The British Entrepreneur, my recent research report, was that planning delays and costly changes required by planning authorities were critical factors in preventing businesses from starting up and then expanding.

What is missing from Labour’s diagnosis and prescriptions is any genuine understanding of what the private sector needs. Again, in the research groups for Onward’s report, we heard time and again that it was the government itself that was getting in the way of enterprise rather than a feeling the state could do more.

Excessive taxes, especially in the first years of a new venture, inability to raise finance driven by excessive regulations on banks, and even the time wasted in asking HMRC or local authorities even the simplest thing. These are all the impediments that have a practical and measurable impact on enterprise.

What is clear is that entrepreneurs need someone to champion their cause, to be their voice when Labour’s plans harm their ability to expand and innovate. Recapturing that group will be a vital part of rebuilding the Conservative reputation as well as our prospects of electoral success.

But that will only be feasible with new ideas that demonstrate we understand what Government can do – and more importantly what it cannot – to re-energise our entrepreneurial and high-growth sector. Britain needs a thriving, dynamic start-up and scale-up sector. The Conservatives need to show they understand how to deliver that.

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