Jobs and Growth

Debate between Brian Binley and Richard Fuller

Thursday 17th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Binley]

I do—they will tell you that, Sir—as you did when you said that there was no money left. We are both honest men.

I wish that the shadow Chancellor would welcome some of the achievements that the people of this country welcome; it is foolish of him not to do so when there are considerable signs of recovery. It simply lowers the esteem in which all politicians are held, and I urge him, and the Opposition Front Bencher who responds to this debate, to take that into account.

There are welcome signs of recovery. The private sector has created more than 500,000 jobs since the general election; the International Monetary Fund forecasts that the UK will grow at twice the speed of Germany and three times that of France; borrowing costs have fallen, investment has been increasing and only yesterday we saw a drop of 45,000 in the number of unemployed people in the first quarter of this year. All those things are welcome, but it would be refreshing to hear Opposition Front Benchers greet them with some enthusiasm—although I doubt that they will.

The truth of the matter is that consumers and businesses are saying, “To hell with it; we’ve got to get on with life,” and that is one reason why we are seeing some of the green shoots of recovery. Now we need to nurture them and ensure that they continue to grow and bear fruit.

The situation is fragile, and no one would say otherwise. Consequently, I urge the Government and the Chancellor to do more. We will not achieve growth with new laws. The previous Government tried that for 13 years, and we saw what happened. This place does not create the growth; it simply sets the atmosphere and ambience for it. So I appeal to the Chancellor to recognise that we need to change the culture regarding entrepreneurialism and the attitude to small businesses, and indeed serious and important recommendations on doing so are coming forward from various parts of the House.

We must also understand the needs of small businesses, because therein lies our best chance of growing jobs and the well-being of this nation.

[Richard Fuller]

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is nothing that a small businessman would like to do more than to employ a young, new worker? What would my hon. Friend suggest to the Chancellor can be done with employment regulations, so that we get our businesses employing people more easily?

[Mr Binley]

I welcome that important point, because I was about to turn to that very area. More can be done, and we do indeed need to reduce the regulatory burden and to strengthen the business environment.

I welcome in the Queen’s Speech the proposed measures to deal with executive pay and employment tribunals, but I still do not understand why the Government are obsessing about maternity and paternity leave, especially for very small businesses. I simply point out that many people meet in the workplace and set up a family life together, and, if a small business employing 10 people loses 20% of its work force for six months, temporary labour cannot be used as a replacement. That simply does not happen.

Postal Services Bill

Debate between Brian Binley and Richard Fuller

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Binley]

I am grateful for the interjection. What an awful statement for somebody concerned with a business to make, but then I have never been very keen on the gentleman’s boss: I would not have appointed Lord Mandelson, either.

[Richard Fuller]

To echo the Minister’s comments about the observations on the current management by Members on the Public Bill Committee, I note that there has been a substantial improvement on the legacy management. The current management really shine a torch forward for Royal Mail Group. Does my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) echo my sentiment that, in the sight of ineffective, hostile management over many years, there was an excellent outcome when the Communication Workers Union and other unions put together a modernisation programme and commitment for our postal services, privatised or otherwise, for the long term? That was a substantial triumph by the unions against hostile management.

[Mr Binley]

I accept that interjection and support that point, too, because I was one of those who consistently said that we should be proud of our Royal Mail work force. I am sure that my hon. Friend visits his local sorting offices, as the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk and I do. We visit our sorting offices and post offices regularly and we know the quality of people we are dealing with. I would be proud to have them in any organisation with which I was associated, so paying tribute to the work force at this stage has real value. I accept that and thank my hon. Friend for his intervention.

To return to the main thrust of my contribution, I am concerned that, unless we are careful, the separation of Royal Mail and post offices will have a sizeable detrimental effect on the viability of the post office network. The truth is that the network is a diminishing resource even as we speak. My hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Bob Russell), who moved the new clause, said that some post offices had temporarily closed. Well, if you believe that, you’ll believe anything. In truth, they are closed for business, just as many pubs are, which is another problem in rural areas—but not a part of the Bill.