Reducing Costs for Businesses

Energy-intensive industries, such as those on Teesside, are under the cosh when it comes to the c...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who has put his case as he always does. I will mention en...

rose—

rose—

I am conscious of your warning, Mr Deputy Speaker, but I will give way to a couple of hon. Friend...

Rising energy prices have been described as an existential crisis for small businesses in the hos...

Very straightforwardly, yes. We will talk about some of the specific proposals that the Labour pa...

Like many colleagues, I visited many small businesses in my constituency just before Christmas on...

My hon. Friend is right. There is already a cost of living crisis gripping the country, and it ha...

The hon. Gentleman is setting out a case, but the crucial thing is that the Government have a pla...

The hon. Gentleman is more astute than that. He will have seen the plan to take revenue from the ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will give way one last time.

I will be brief, as I appreciate the pressure on my hon. Friend’s time. He is absolutely right to...

I love it when Members bring testimony from their own constituencies about specific sectors that ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will proceed.

I know many Government Members are uncomfortable hearing it, but it is true...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and really pleased to come in when he is talking a...

I am particularly pleased I gave way to my hon. Friend because I drive through Chesterfield when ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I am going to proceed. [Interruption.] Okay, go ahead—I give way.

Just to make a point of detail about the context, the hon. Gentleman talks about runaway inflatio...

I always have time for the hon. Member, so I am not sad that I gave way to him. Yes, as we come o...

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate.

I agree with the hon. Member...

As the Minister will know, the threshold turnover for small businesses to register for VAT is £85...

My hon. Friend tempts me to get into policy, which is not the purpose of Opposition day debates—a...

I thank the Minister for courteously taking my intervention. As the House knows, I represent the ...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point that demonstrates the different challenges for differ...

Does the Minister recognise the anger and upset of excluded businesses that have been unable to g...

The hon. Lady makes an important intervention. When policy is made at speed, it is a huge challen...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not give way now, but perhaps in a moment.

Months after those bold statements began ...

Will the Minister give way on that point?

I am happy to give way; perhaps the hon. Gentleman can explain it.

I have a better memory than the Minister, because I remember when George Osborne stood at that Di...

I hate to break it to my neighbour, but we came out last year with a reform of business rates, wh...

The only detail that we seem to know about in Labour’s plans to reform business rates is a sixfol...

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention, and that is exactly the level of detail that dem...

Will the Minister give way?

I apologise to hon. Gentleman; I need to make progress so that others can come in.

Many lar...

It is a pleasure to take part in this important debate, and, of course, to see so many Members on...

rose—

I am more than happy to give way to the right hon. Member.

May I ask the hon. Gentleman to point out to the House that this country’s trade deficit in the l...

I hoped that the right hon. Member was going to rise to defend Brexit, but unfortunately he chose...

I can think of examples of families I know personally where the budgeting is so tight that just a...

Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes an excellent point illustrating the knock-on impact the economy ...

rose—

As always, I am happy to give way to the hon. Member.

If I were running a business in Scotland, I would want to know what the hon. Member is going to d...

Join the single market.

I shall move on to the two biggest outstanding issues that I have n...

I am afraid that I now have to put a three-minute time limit on.

5.36 pm

I refer the House to my entry in the Register.

I have great respect for the hon. Member for...

I share the mutual respect that the right hon. Gentleman kindly outlined at the beginning, but he...

The hon. Gentleman knows from experience, when this country has been through bad times, how devas...

We in the Labour party recognise just how important business and industry are to our country, gen...

Time and again, I and other Members on the Conservative Benches have risen to oppose motions such...

Businesses in my home town of Halifax have acutely felt the culmination of factors that has creat...

It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate and I am grateful for the opportunity, once again ...

St Helens has been at the heart of the global glass industry for over 200 years and is, in fact, ...

Order.

I am sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker. We need help and we need help now.

5.55 pm

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I would like to start by speaking directly to people wh...

Throughout the pandemic, a mixture of lockdowns, local restrictions and Brexit have put businesse...

As the hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah) knows, I entirely agree with her about the need f...

I know that I am pushing my luck by intervening, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will not m...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman on long-term productivity, but that is not what his motion says. ...

This pandemic is not yet over. The costs and risk of the continuing high rate of infections are b...

I am probably going to be quite parochial in my comments, but I have the pleasure of representing...

Many hon. Members have said that SMEs are at the heart of their constituency, and I want to menti...

I will try not to cut the time limit, but I may have to at some point, so I encourage people to s...

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate and to support our businesses during this difficult time....

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), although, unlike her, ...

As a Welsh MP representing Clwyd South in north Wales, on the border with England, I see very cle...

As the party of growth and enterprise, Labour will help British business to weather this crisis a...

Order. To get everybody in, I am afraid that I will have to reduce the limit to two minutes after...

The covid pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for businesses in every part of the cou...

Order.

6.30 pm

As someone who spent 20 years in business, including running two businesses, prior to coming into...

I of course recognise the hardship that businesses are facing through the pandemic, but if the Go...

I am immensely proud to represent Durham, and part of what makes it so special are the wonderful ...

The support for businesses in the last two years to help them cope with the pandemic has been unp...

Let me start with energy costs, which are significant. Energy prices in the UK are 87% higher tha...

I am pleased to speak in this debate, because it gives me the opportunity to thank the businesses...

We have heard from Members already this afternoon about many of the issues raised in the motion. ...

Today, Rotherham businesses are facing an economic crisis. Prices across the board are skyrocketi...

I have raised the case of a certain business in my constituency before. It is a well-known family...

The Minister and the Prime Minister claim that there are 400,000 more people in work, but the Off...

One thing that stands out from this debate is that British business is calling for a Government w...

I have run many, many businesses over the last 25 years, and in welcoming the hon. Member for Sta...

claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).

Question put forthwith, That the Quest...