Contributions
1,122 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHigh Street BusinessesThe Conservative party has a rather dismal record on support to workers. I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that most businesses that do the right thing by their employees support…01 May 2025HANSARDRural BusinessesRural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy, so we are working closely with other Government Departments, including the Department for…01 May 2025HANSARDRural BusinessesWe recognise that the English wine industry, which has gone from strength to strength in recent years, is a crucial part of the rural economy and of the food and drink offer that…01 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford) might not invite Ministers to his constituency, but I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s invitation—diary permitting, I…01 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI know from personal experience that there are some great hospitality and tourism businesses in Kent, and we want to see them do even better in the coming months and years. That…01 May 2025HANSARDTopical QuestionsI commend my hon. Friend for meeting with Berkshire Growth Hub. Growth hubs play a crucial role in local economies. We want to supplement their work with our business growth…01 May 2025HANSARDExports: Small BusinessesWe have begun a series of roadshows, which bring overseas buyers to the UK to meet small businesses here in, for example, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, life sciences,…01 May 2025HANSARDExports: Small BusinessesI thank my hon. Friend for that question, and I commend her for the business roundtable that she hosted. She is absolutely right, and we recognise that supply chain instability is…01 May 2025HANSARDExports: Small BusinessesFirst, I commend the work of Phoenox Textiles and my hon. Friend for championing its concerns. Because of the concern she has articulated, which we have heard from across the…01 May 2025HANSARDExports: Small BusinessesThe hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the fact that we need to increase exports to all sorts of markets. It is one of the reasons why we are taking urgent steps to agree a new…01 May 2025HANSARDExports: Small BusinessesI know my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is urgently seeking to arrange the meeting with the hon. Member to discuss this issue, because we recognise that this is a key…01 May 2025HANSARD Hair and Beauty Sector: Government PolicyIn the usual way, let me begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez) on securing this debate. Let me say at the outset that, as in all the…23 Apr 2025HANSARD Hair and Beauty Sector: Government PolicyI will go back to the point I made earlier. We inherited a very difficult fiscal position, which, to be fair to them, the Liberal Democrats do accept. Unfortunately, the Liberal…23 Apr 2025HANSARD Hair and Beauty Sector: Government PolicyI would have thought that the hon. Lady would welcome the measures we took in the Budget to protect the smallest businesses. We increased the employment allowance so that almost 1…23 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateMy hon. Friend makes a very good point about the number of bank branch closures. Over 9,500 bank branches closed under the Conservatives, who did next to nothing to ensure that…08 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateI ask the hon. Lady to forgive me for not having the details of that particular case in front of me. As she has asked me to look again at that case, I will happily do so and write…08 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateI recognise that my hon. Friend has been campaigning hard to save Morley post office; he has certainly made clear representations to me about it. The starting point for…08 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateWe are clear that we need to replace the Horizon system. As the whole House would expect, the Post Office is not taking any criminal action when there are shortfalls. There are…08 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateThe hon. Member will understand that I do not have the details about Tony’s case to hand, but he has asked me to review the way that the case has been handled. I am happy to do…08 Apr 2025HANSARDHorizon Redress and Post Office UpdateMy hon. Friend made clear to me the significance of the King’s Road post office to his constituents, and I am pleased that there will continue to be a post office service there. I…08 Apr 2025