Tax plans fail to silence squabbles over Europe.

CONSERVATIVES yesterday announced tax breaks worth pounds 250m to new businesses, as the party's leadership sought to put a lid on internal discontent over Europe at their annual conference in Manchester. Shadow chancellor George Osborne claimed that waiving the 12.8% employers' National Insurance contribution for the first 10 employees taken on by a newly-established firm could create 60,000 jobs in the first two years of a Tory government.

The measure formed a centrepiece of a jobs package which leader David Cameron described as "the biggest, boldest programme to get Britain working that this country has ever seen".

In a surprise appearance on-stage on the first day of the Tories' last conference before a general election, Mr Cameron urged activists to "go out and win it", telling them: "We must not let Britain down."

But the flurry of announcements could not drown out the debate over Europe on the fringes of the Manchester gathering in the wake of Ireland's Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty. Europhile shadow business secretary Kenneth Clarke was forced to put out a statement ruling out the prospect of him campaigning for ratification of the treaty as a member of a Tory government, after he appeared to suggest that he would consider fighting for the Yes camp.

And London Mayor Boris Johnson increased Mr Cameron's discomfort by openly speculating that a Tory administration could give voters a say on "key parts" of the treaty if it was already in place.

The Tory leader has promised a referendum if any of the European Union's 27 member states have not ratified Lisbon by the time the Conservatives win power.

Mr Johnson said it would be "bizarre" if Tony Blair were to become EU president without the British people being given a say in the creation of the role.

Meanwhile, shadow minister Andrew Rosindell had to issue a statement denying any dissent from Mr Cameron's stance, after he stated publicly that voters wanted a referendum "whatever the circumstances".

The jobs package, unveiled under the title Get Britain Working, featured tougher checks on Incapacity Benefit claimants which could see them lose pounds 25 a week in state help; a new chain of technical schools teaching vocational subjects in English cities; 10,000 new university places; and a boost to apprenticeship schemes.

The National insurance waiver is apparently intended to apply to the first 10 employees hired by a business during its first year, up to the upper earning limit of pounds 844 a week per employee, or about pounds 44,000 a year.

For a new small business with 10 employees on an average salary of pounds 25,000, the Conservatives calculates this could save up to pounds 25,000 a year.

The proposal was welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses, which said it would help to create and grow more small businesses to serve as "a catalyst for economic recovery".

Inventor Sir James Dyson was named the Tories' technology tsar, heading a taskforce to explore ways to boost Britain's hi-tech exports.

CAPTION(S):

TSAR QUALITY A new role was lined up for Sir James Dyson.