Contributions
1,335 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSeasonal WorkThe hon. Lady is right, but would she agree that there is a balance to be struck in every policy? Here, the balance is between employment rights on the one hand and business…10 Dec 2025HANSARDSeasonal WorkI should make it clear that I spent my career before coming into politics running a ledger business, so I am intimately familiar with a seasonal workforce and I employed about…10 Dec 2025HANSARDSeasonal WorkMy hon. Friend makes an important point, although it is not just, or even primarily, about the increase from 13.8% to 15% on the overall rate, but that it kicks in at £5,000,…10 Dec 2025HANSARDSeasonal WorkThe Centre for Policy Studies has undertaken an analysis of all the impacts of both the previous Budget and the one last month on the cost of employing 18 to 20-year-olds. The…10 Dec 2025HANSARDSeasonal WorkIt is easy to make the mistake of talking about SMEs as though they are corporate entities when, in many instances, they are not. They are often a husband-and-wife team working…10 Dec 2025HANSARD Railways BillThis has been a very popular debate with a lot of contributions; I congratulate all those who managed to make their points in just three minutes. I will do my best to summarise…09 Dec 2025HANSARD Railways BillLet us wait to see if Labour actually nationalises it first; but the Conservatives are here to lead, not to follow. There is plenty of evidence because we have tried the…09 Dec 2025HANSARD Railways BillMy right hon. Friend is right. If Members read the Bill properly, they will see that it spells the death knell for open access. It is true that the last few years have exposed…09 Dec 2025HANSARDEngagementsQ9. My constituent Claire runs Claire Howard Jewellery in Fakenham, and she is one of many small business owners who contacted me after the Budget last week. She was absolutely…03 Dec 2025HANSARDChina: Threat to UK Interests15. What assessment she has made of the level of threat that China poses to UK interests.02 Dec 2025HANSARDBudget ResolutionsIt makes it worse.02 Dec 2025HANSARDChina: Threat to UK InterestsLast night, the Prime Minister said some tough things about China. He said: “It’s time for a serious approach” to the national security risk from China. The first opportunity to…02 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsIt has been dragged out of the Government that there was no black hole of £20 billion to £30 billion in the run-up to the Budget. In fact, there was a surplus. That means that…01 Dec 2025HANSARDBudget ResolutionsAt the last general election, the Secretary of State and all his colleagues said that they would raise taxes by £7 billion, and that their plans were fully funded and costed. What…01 Dec 2025HANSARD Budget ResolutionsCould my right hon. Friend remind the House what happened during that period to the deficit, which was inherited at over 10%? Maybe we will just deal with that.26 Nov 2025HANSARDEconomic Growth3. What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of recent trends in levels of economic growth in Scotland.26 Nov 2025HANSARDEconomic GrowthThe latest growth figures in Scotland have been terrible—just 0.2%—and are even worse than Labour’s figures for England at 0.3%. What has been more damaging to the Scottish…26 Nov 2025HANSARD English Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMany of us agree with the concept of genuine devolution and bringing power to communities, but is the real problem not that the measures in the Bill will mean a power grab away…24 Nov 2025HANSARDPassenger Rail: Performance ImprovementsThis summer, the Department for Transport wrote to the rail regulator that the Government firmly believe that “the arrival of competition will benefit users of rail services by…20 Nov 2025HANSARDPassenger Rail: Performance ImprovementsI am very interested to hear that mention of open access, because there is a risk with nationalisation that the organisation focuses on its own union-led interests, rather than…20 Nov 2025