Speaking at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) annual conference in Aberdeen, Mr Salmond said he would challenge such a policy.

UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said increases were difficult but sometimes necessary.

Mr Salmond also unveiled a £5m investment fund for small businesses.

In his speech, the first minister said: “In terms of the pre-budget report, the SNP MPs join with others to challenge the policy of increasing the tax on jobs in the middle of a recession.

When businesses are saying to me the priority demand is to reduce the deficit, then they can’t then in the next breath exclude the means of doing that
Lord Mandelson
Business Secretary

“It cannot be right to increase the tax on jobs as the country is still in the throws of recession.”

Speaking ahead of the conference, Lord Mandelson said: “If you were to choose some alternative way of raising taxation, for example, VAT, there would be many sectors of the economy who would be coming to me and saying please don’t do that.

“Nobody likes increased taxation and you don’t introduce it unless you have to.

“When businesses are saying to me the priority demand is to reduce the deficit, then they can’t then in the next breath exclude the means of doing that.”

‘Finding savings’

Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne, who also addressed the conference, said: “I am working night and day to try and avoid Labour’s National Insurance rise, not just on small businesses and large businesses but on many many thousands of people in Scotland because it is also an income tax rise.

“What I am looking for are the ways to avoid it and that means finding savings elsewhere.

“But I am only going to be able to give that commitment when I am absolutely clear that I can afford it because the last thing people want from politicians at the moment are promises that they can’t keep.”

Small businesses truly are the lifeblood of the economy and are doing all they can to ensure the country fully recovers from the recession this year
John Wright
FSB national chairman

Mr Salmond also announced the creation of a £5m investment fund for small businesses.

He said the fund would offer more than 430 growth businesses in the east of Scotland access to loans of up to £50,000.

The government said the fund had the potential to generate increased turnover of £34.56m in small and medium-sized enterprises and could create approximately 1,300 new jobs.

The initiative will be supported by £2m in European Regional Development Funding and £3m of funding from the 12 local authorities who will deliver the scheme.

It will operate in Fife, Aberdeen, Angus, Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, Moray, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Lothian.

FSB national chairman John Wright said: “Small businesses truly are the lifeblood of the economy and are doing all they can to ensure the country fully recovers from the recession this year.”

The federation, which has over 20,000 members in Scotland, exists to protect and promote the interests of the self-employed and all those who run their own business.

These new marketplaces should provide up to 30 million Americans with an easy-to-use way to shop for coverage by offering a menu of plans, presented in a Web-based standardized format. By creating a large pool of customers, the exchanges should be able to get better insurance at a lower cost than individuals or small businesses could get on their own.

There is more that we don’t know than we do know” as to how the exchanges will work, said Jon Kingsdale, executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the exchange created by health insurance reform in Massachusetts. “Implementation is 90 percent of the game.

Creating a national health insurance exchange — or a system of state or regional exchanges — “has incredible potential if it’s done right.

People have just not focused on the mechanics of the exchange enough.

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Health Insurance While Being Young and Healthy.

Age and health condition does not mean you don’t need health insurance. The main thing that makes health insurance something you can’t go without is the fact that it’s there for you when you need it. If you have an accident or an unexpected illness, the bills can pile up quickly.

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Student Health Insurance Covered Under Parent Policy

Parents need to take the time to check their own health care coverage and look at the policy’s fine print. Most family insurance plans will cover a full-time student under the age of 22, or until college graduation. Read carefully, however: Some plans may not cover dependent children after they reach their 18th or 21st birthday, regardless of student status. If a student changes his or her college enrollment status from full-time to part-time, there is a good chance it will affect insurance coverage from the provider. Understand the requirements of the policy to avoid rude and expensive surprises later.

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Student Health Insurance Options

If a child is not covered under the parent’s current health care plan, there are a variety of student health insurance plans available. These student plans vary from state to state, but typically offer coverage to the general student population, including older and/or married students, graduate students, and international students.

On-campus health care clinics offer another affordable health care option for students at reduced rates. The variety of services offered by on-campus clinics is dependent on the size of the campus, with larger universities offering 24-hour, fully staffed, full-service facilities, while smaller colleges may be limited in their scope and be open only part-time. Generally, however, these smaller facilities are well geared toward handling minor emergencies, regular check-ups, and lab tests, and can offer references to off-campus medical doctors and hospitals. College orientation materials should include information about health care services provided.