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.

To be clear, there are some things that none of these policies cover: if you simply decide not to travel, if your business meeting gets canceled, if you have a child-care emergency. On the plus side, most of the policies cover acts of terrorism (which, sadly, is becoming more of a realistic possibility these days).

Here, then, is a rundown on the five most popular annual travel-insurance policies on the market. Keep in mind that coverage varies from policy to policy and state by state (insurance laws differ by state). It’s also important to note that with any insurance policy, understanding the fine print can be challenging, which is why we recommend calling for more details.

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.

Getting an insurance quote is quite easy. Most insurance companies online would give you a car insurance quote. The purpose of this quote is to allow you make a comparison with quotes from other providers. You only need to provide some needed information and to request for a quote. If you want to pay less and save money on car insurance you would need to get as many quotes so that you can compare them. In case on an eventuality, you would be entitled to the same compensation no matter the amount you paid for the insurance cover. It is thus money-wise to buy the cheapest car insurance you can get. To do that you need to compare quotes from various providers.

There are several factors that should determine how you compare quotes, and the best provider to select. However, the most influential of these factors is the price or cost of the policy. Getting a slightly cheaper quote can translate to a substantial amount saved over time. When comparing various insurance quotes to chose a provider you thus would want to go for the cheapest.

The comparison website has identified a rise in the number of workers being asked to use their personal cars for business use, without necessarily warning them of the car insurance implications.

Found that 72 per cent of UK workers have used their own car for business use in the last 12 months, but only 35 per cent do not have business cover included in their car insurance policy and therefore risk driving without sufficient protection.

Whilst workers are usually covered for commuting, they would need to extend their policy to cover using their car for purposes directly linked to their job other than getting to and from work.

Some of the business events that workers have used their cars for include travelling to training courses, going to the bank or post office on behalf of their employer, driving to another office or attending company away days.

If employees were to have an accident while driving for work purposes without adequate insurance, they might find themselves having to pick up the bill for any repairs and third party claims.