Business Rate Supplements Bill

Of course, I accept your guidance, Madam Deputy Speaker, but you will recognise how provoked I was. Business has faced £66 billion of regulatory costs since the Government came to power. There are 800,000 people on the public sector payroll; only the wealth-producing sector has to support that. I am worried that we have seen little concern about that from Labour Members. All we have heard from them about the trials and tribulations of business people seems to involve the small minority who deliberately set out to twist the system. I am all for belting them as hard as we can, but, after 40 years in business, I have met very few such people. I have always been proud of the ethical base of most businesses in this country, especially in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. I would like that to be on the record, and it will be now. I am grateful for the opportunity to do that. In addition to extra costs that business has to bear, corporation tax has increased for the SME sector.