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.

So how much are your contents insurance quotes going to be? Well, that depends on a number of factors. The cash value of the contents you want covered and the number of valuables you want covered are two of the most important factors that go into determining how high or low your premiums will be. Also, whether or not you decide to spring for “all risks” coverage which includes coverage for your belongings when you take them out of your home is also a factor.

Another factor is how high risk you are deemed by your insurance company. The article states, “How many security measures your home has. Deadbolts, smoke detectors, motion sensor lights, and security systems will make you more low risk and afford you lower contents insurance quotes.”

A recent announcement by the Insurance Information Institute noted that people who have holiday parties, or any kind of gathering actually, can end up being held liable for guests who consume too much alcohol and end up in an auto accident or some other mishap.

The institute cited “Dram Shop Liability” laws which initially held bars and other such establishments responsible for allowing customers to get too intoxicated but which now apply in some cases to homeowners as well. Some states also allow homeowners to face criminal charges for holiday gatherings gone wrong.

“You don’t want to allow anyone who has been drinking to drive home and possibly kill or injure themselves or others on the road,” said Loretta Worters, vice president of the I.I.I.

With this in mind, the institute advises people to encourage their guests to have designated drivers and to also offer non-alcoholic beverages and food when hosting a gathering.

The earthquake plan, which consists of self-contained manual supplements, is available for use by any homeowners insurer, including those not affiliated with AAIS for use of its Homeowners Program. (AAIS Homeowners affiliates get the plan as part of their affiliation.) Proposed effective dates for use of the plan in individual states range from Jan. 1 through July 1, 2010.

The plan provides state-specific loss cost base amounts and rating factors that vary by zone to reflect a risk’s location and type of construction, as well as the policy form, deductible, and amount of insurance.

“This new rating plan includes features not found in other standardized programs,” says Greg Jaynes, AAIS chief actuary.

“Among other things, we have developed premium credits for frame construction, which is generally more flexible than masonry construction and, therefore, more resistant to earthquake damage. These ‘frame factors’ vary by earthquake zone for greater accuracy.

“We’ve also introduced rating factors for the age of a structure and the number of stories, as well as premium credits for certain loss mitigation features on older homes.”

To produce the plan, AAIS actuarial staff has built upon modeled data to develop loss costs and rating factors that will allow most carriers to price earthquake exposure more precisely than in the past. That, in turn, could make earthquake coverage more attractive to homeowners who need the coverage more than they think, but who might pay less than anticipated, according to AAIS.

Among the benefits of the new earthquake plan, says Jaynes, is that it provides for a greater segregation of risks without creating an unwieldy set of risk categories that would be difficult for many carriers to implement.

“Homeowners carriers of all sizes can benefit from this innovative and practical approach to rating earthquake coverage,” says Paul Baiocchi, AAIS president.

A generic sample earthquake manual supplement has been developed for review by interested companies not currently using the AAIS Homeowners Program.

AAIS is a national advisory organization that develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S.e

Home insurance comes in many forms, counting basic post, satiated coverage, standard diplomacy, and home-based affair coverage. Many mortgage coverage diplomacy clash, but overall it is akin to motor coverage. Many family insurance diplomacy will cover fire, theft, unnatural and natural disasters and so forth. If you are filing a aver on a break and access, be advised with the intention of hardly any family insurance policies will ask for a control crash and if with the intention of crash does not indicate a window or entrance was kaput at that time the company will not provide reimbursement. Thus, thieves are tricky and now and again contravention in doesn’t entail causing destroy to the family. Therefore, read the stipulations and conditions carefully to know could you repeat that? The plan will cover.

Researching the marketplace can help you discover the bargains, however if you be inflicted with a home-based affair you could aspire to investigate to gather all you can in this area the coverage, since hardly any policies are not worth the hassle. There are various questions to ask as you are taking into account family insurance, counting could you repeat that? The diplomacy entails. You could wonder which plan is aptly for you, hence investigate can help you discover answers to persons questions. Policies are uncommon, so you will aspire to know could you repeat that? Coverage is existing to you if you live in an area everywhere floods are frequent, and if coverage is unfilled to you, you aspire to know the tariff of the policies.

Again, here are various family insurance policies, counting coverage for mobile homes, condominiums and so forth. Therefore, if you own a ad or condominium you will need a special type of coverage to trouble for your needs as insurance is looked-for. Coverage for family insurance alters, since homes regard depreciates ended calculate, and the structural of the family deteriorates. If the homeowner hasn’t invested in upgrading at that time the policies could consider various aspects previous to offer family insurance. Most family insurance agencies expect a family to be built of brick, hence if the family is not constructed of brick the company could feel the family is a high-risk. Most policies offer the same type of coverage, though hardly any be inflicted with more exclusions and restrictions than others sort out sort out sort out.