Labour made its comm-itment to "tackling red tape at home and abroad" a central plank of the business manifesto it launched yesterday, pledging to drive forward reform in Europe. But industry applause was tempered with concern about the mass of regulations planned by Brussels.

Tony Blair pledged to use the UK's European Union presidency this year to shake up competition policy and push through economic reform. He admitted that countries such as Britain that wanted reform were battling others that wanted to retain traditional European social models, but said the argument was "moving our way".