Thatcher 'a million times' better than Cameron - Peter Hargreaves

Peter Hargreaves, the founder and CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown, says former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a "million times" better for businesses than current incumbent David Cameron.

According to Hargreaves, who is set to step down as CEO later this year, the Cameron-led coalition Government has done little to encourage entrepreneurs like himself.

"The Conservatives, along with Labour, I don't think understand what it is like to run a business," the 63-year-old told Bloomberg.

"I don't think there is any politician out there really supporting entrepreneurs at the moment."

According to Hargreaves - named in the Sunday Times rich list as the UK's 111th richest person with a personal fortune of £570m - regulation stunts business growth because it favors employees over managers.

He says while Thatcher "freed" businesses from bureaucracy, Cameron lacks the will to do the same.

"I think the biggest problem at the moment is not taxation, it's regulation," he says. "If Cameron really wanted to impress me, he would pass one law repealing all the legislation passed by Labour over the last 10 years because they have all made it difficult to do business."

Hargreaves is also heavily critical of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's desire to double capital gains tax (CGT) from the current 18% rate.

With an announcement possible in next week's emergency Budget, he says investors will do what they can to avoid a higher levy.

"There is an old adage that the quickest way to drop your tax take is to increase taxes," Hargreaves says. "If CGT is going to be 50%, my contingent CGT is going to be £250m.

"That is a very big bribe to me to work out how to avoid that."