I have run many, many businesses over the last 25 years, and in welcoming the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) to his place, one thing I particularly agree with him on is mental health. I know what it is like to run a business in normal times. It is stressful enough for entrepreneurs who risk their homes and their own livelihoods to pay other people in normal times. In these particular times, it is right that we stepped up to support entrepreneurs to protect jobs, to protect livelihoods and to protect those businesses. Insolvencies were at a 40-year low at the height of the pandemic, and putting that £408 billion of support out there gives us 408 billion reasons to get this next bit right, to make sure that we can shape the recovery.
We have just heard the extraordinary claim that the Labour party has suddenly become the party of business. But we also heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Paul Howell) about Labour Members’ woeful attendance at the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, where they cannot be bothered to scrutinise the Department. Also, at oral questions in this place, the employers, the entrepreneurs and the people who are giving jobs are portrayed as the bad guys time and again by those people across the way. We also heard that Labour is apparently the party of the workers, yet in Wales, it is fining people for going to work.
We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Suzanne Webb) about the 50,000 more companies that have been formed since 2010. These are the fundamental roots that allow us to be able to pivot to a good solid recovery, because the fundamentals behind the UK economy remain strong as we look to power through our growth.
My hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies) was right to pay tribute to local authorities. We have heard other examples where things have not worked so well, but we have worked in partnership with local government to make sure that we can get the support to businesses, and we will continue to do so with the discretionary grants and the grants to hospitality and leisure. We need to be able to work collaboratively with local authorities.
My hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Julie Marson) was also listening to businesses. She talked about unprecedented events. I think the word “unprecedented” has been used an unprecedented amount of times in the last two years. I loved her analogy about the Government being the groundsman who sets the pitch for the game ahead. Unfortunately, the Labour party would set a pitch that would just take spin, because there is no plan behind what it is saying. The wicket that we would prefer would allow entrepreneurs to make a good start, to build a solid innings and to hit boundaries so that they could scale up quickly with the support that we need to be able to give them.
My hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) talked about energy issues and supply issues. Yes, we are feeling them here and we must tackle them, but they are indeed a global issue. I am pleased that he again raised the issue of regional mutual banks, because that diversification of funding will have a longer-term view beyond the initial response that the Government are giving for businesses.
I was pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd South (Simon Baynes) contrasted Wales with the UK Government. We can see the direct comparison. This is not just talk; we can see the direct comparison between what is happening in England and Wales, where that business support has dissolved.