Amendment of the Law

Baroness Burt of Solihull Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Ed Balls]

I will make a bit more progress before giving way.

Let me return to the Business Secretary, because he was wise to say that those matters should be judged at the time of the Budget, based on the economic conditions. That is why we have argued that the Budget was an opportunity to change course from the reckless cuts. The problem is that the Business Secretary has not been heard. The blinkered Chancellor is ploughing on regardless, oblivious to what happens around him.

The Business Secretary needs to change tack. “Newsnight” is clearly not the way to get his message out. It does not get him on to the front pages; it does not make people listen to him. Why does he not do what he did last time? Perhaps he needs to call in some more young constituents for another candid conversation, another avuncular chat. It worked last time. The Chancellor certainly knew about his views on media ownership and News International. It is a pity he did not also share his thoughts on the risk to growth and jobs from the Chancellor’s reckless cuts.

The Business Secretary knows that the Chancellor is taking a massive and reckless gamble. He knows that it is the wrong thing to do, just as he knows that scrapping the future jobs fund and education maintenance allowances, hiking up tuition fees, raising VAT and cutting benefits for disabled people is wrong. It is one thing to want to be in power, but sacrificing one’s principles and beliefs for power is quite another. They used to call him Saint Vince, the wise economist. He had a reputation for telling it like it is. Why does he not tell us what he really thinks today? He knows that the economic strategy of the Government of which he is now a part is deeply flawed, misguided and unfair.

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

The right hon. Gentleman is right—the Business Secretary is very wise. He warned the right hon. Gentleman when he was a business Minister with responsibility for the City that there was far too little regulation for the banks. Does he now regret the fact that he said at the time that we should have light-touch regulation for the banks, which eventually proved so disastrous?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

On behalf of the Liberal Democrat part of the coalition, I would like to make a few remarks on the business, innovation and skills measures in the Budget. Last year, we delivered a very tough Budget—one that members of neither coalition party would have wished to bring in as our first Budget—but it had to be done. Labour Members have conveniently forgotten just what a mess they left: they increased public spending by 5% year on year for 10 years so that the state accounted for more than half of all income; overheated the economy based on borrowing that this country could not sustain when the global banking problems struck; and left behind a deficit bigger than anywhere in the G20. And now they appear to be living in a parallel reality. They said that there would need to be cuts, but they never had the decency to tell the public where the axe was going to fall, and despite all the speeches we have heard this afternoon, they still have not.

We have an Opposition party that continues to oppose everything while proposing nothing. The simple truth is that if we had not taken strong measures, the country would today be in the same situation as Portugal: a whisker away from needing a bail-out and with all the draconian measures of higher taxes and bigger spending cuts that Greece and Ireland have had to endure. Our measures were tough, but they are doing the trick. They were endorsed by the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, the European Commission and, most important of all, the credit rating agencies, which confirmed our triple A credit rating. Today, therefore, families are not paying 12.9% interest rates like those in Greece, or 10% like those in Portugal, but 3.6%.

With this Budget, we need to support the growth that will pull us out of the situation we are in. The first thing we have to do is to start rebalancing the economy. We have arguably the best financial sector in the world—and we need it. We need it for jobs and we need it for tax revenues. Labour supported the financial sector. The then City Minister—now the shadow Chancellor—feted it with soothing words about light-touch regulation, and we all know what happened after that.

While Labour was in thrall to the financial sector, it neglected the manufacturing sector. Shockingly, the previous Government oversaw a decline in manufacturing that was greater than that seen in the days of Margaret Thatcher. My region in the west midlands has the invidious distinction of being the only region to lose private sector jobs when they were on the increase everywhere else, in the so-called good times. What do we have in the Budget to help to redress that imbalance? Not 10, but 21 enterprise zones have been announced. Each zone has a metaphorical “Open for business” sign outside, to attract the inward investment that each area desperately needs. The predicted 1% lowering of corporation tax this April has been doubled to 2%. By 2014, we will have the lowest corporation tax in the G7, which will attract more businesses and jobs to the UK.

For a long time we have been lobbied by small businesses about the burden of regulation. They are drowning under red tape. We have already made a start in that regard, with the one in, one out rule, the introduction of sunset clauses and the establishment of the Cabinet’s reducing regulation committee. I welcome the announcements that will assist local business: no more domestic regulatory burden for micro-businesses—that is, businesses with fewer than 10 employees—for the next three years; 200% R and D tax credits for small and medium-sized enterprises; increased entrepreneurship relief; and the extension of the small business rate relief. I could go on, but I shall not, in view of how many Members still wish to speak. I think the House gets the point, although I would like also to mention that more than £350 million of regulation for the smallest businesses has been done away with. However, we will need to look at equality legislation, which embodies rights that should be available to every working person, regardless of the size of the company for which they work.

Much mention has been made of young people. We need to encourage and develop our skills agenda. We have announced a further 50,000 traineeships and 80,000 work experience placements. We have also had the welcome doubling of the number of university technical colleges.

Fuel and transport costs—a tough area for the Treasury—are clearly things that business has lobbied about. However, business is suffering very badly, and although Opposition Members may mock the 1p reduction, let us not forget that their plans were for a 5p rise in the cost of fuel. At today’s prices, that would have increased the cost of filling up an average-sized car by more than £200 a year. I am glad that we have scrapped it.

However, it is important that we do not lose sight of our desire to be the greenest Government ever. That is an agenda that the Liberal Democrats are particularly keen to promote. The green investment bank will receive treble the capitalisation and be able to facilitate investment of £18 billion by 2014-15. It will also act like a real bank, able to borrow and invest from 2015. We have also set a carbon floor price, which will drive investment in low-carbon industry.

There is a lot more in the Budget that I would like to talk about, but I am conscious that other colleagues wish to speak. Together with all the other measures already announced, I am sure that the Budget will not only give business a helping hand, but put the “Open for business” sign up clearly outside the door of Great Britain plc.