Taxation and regulation always feature strongly when businessmen get into a session of “What is wrong with Britain?”

However, the top spot in most lists belongs to our education system.

This is not altruism. Business has to deal with the practical consequences of the failure of schools and universities to equip young people for the modern world.

We are living in an increasingly knowledge based economy. That makes a good education more important than ever, not just for an elite but for the whole workforce.

Countries in Asia and the developing world understand this. Their emphasis on a highly competitive education system produces a stream of impressive young people with the potential to do very well in the global marketplace.

This, combined with the over-regulation of employment here, means no one in their right mind employs anyone in Western Europe unless there is no alternative.

Yet, in the face of this challenge, Britain is actually getting less competitive.

The latest suggestion is abolishing oral assessments in language examinations – lowering standards further in a vital area where Britain is already notoriously bad.

Examinations are already undermined by the use of continual assessment by teachers – which is obviously corrupt – and by the theory that children should not be allowed to fail because it undermines their self-confidence. This might sound compassionate but actually does the child no favours when he grows up and is found to be unfit to compete in the real world.