Business of the House

Andrew Jones Excerpts

Thursday 5th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue. The Government completely share his view that the integrity of our elections is absolutely central to our democracy. As he knows, returning officers are responsible for the running of elections, and Parliament has given the power to monitor the conduct of elections to the Electoral Commission. It is therefore crucial that the commission ensure a swift investigation into any issues of concern in Tower Hamlets, and that it establish the truth and communicate it, including through the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark). I am glad that the hon. Gentleman raised the point because it enables us to say that if anybody in Tower Hamlets knows of anything that causes concern about the integrity of the election, we encourage them to ring 101 and contact the police.

[Andrew Jones (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (Con)]

Some 5,260 businesses in Harrogate and Knaresborough should benefit from the changes to the employment allowance that the Government are making to employer national insurance contributions. Across the country, those changes add up to £1 billion off the cost base of companies, and smaller companies will benefit disproportionately. May we have a debate to explore the impact of business tax changes on job creation, and on how rolling back the tax on jobs boosts employment and business growth?

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend raises a timely point. Right now many businesses are appreciating the importance of that employment allowance in reducing the costs of employment. The changes are proportionately much more significant for smaller businesses and those taking on additional staff as they grow, which is tremendous. My hon. Friend will have an opportunity to debate the issue with colleagues in the Queen’s Speech debate on Wednesday next week, and I hope we might also get an answer from the Leader of the Opposition that we did not get yesterday. When we came to office, we immediately scrapped Labour’s proposed jobs tax. We have further reduced the cost of employment, and seen employment rise by more than 1.5 million. The Labour party now appears to propose that if it ever gets its hands on the levers of power again, one of the first things it will do will be to increase the jobs tax significantly again.